Tales of an InuTaishou
by cmcl
Summary: To his son Sesshoumaru, he left a gift, Tenseiga. To his son, Inuyasha he left a gift, Tetsusaiga. But to them both he left another gift; his story. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Tales of an InuTaishou**

**Karma'sHaven**

So I should be working on Lost Souls but I'm entering this into a contest. The contest idea set me out to put a story idea that's been bothering me for quite a while onto paper.

_Italics_: Journal Entries.

Diclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 1

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'Where are we, Inuyasha?'

'I don't know, Kagome. These woods are foreign to me. They don't belong to the West Lands, nor the North.'

'Master Inuyasha, do you believe that we are in the East Lands?'

Squish

'Don't be ignorant, Myouga. The east lands are barren wastelands. No one has been there for decades.'

Kagome rolled her eyes. It wasn't the first time she wished that Miroku, Sango and Shippo were there. They had been called to Sango's village to fight off a bothersome spider demon. Inuyasha, being as impatient as he was, demanded that they not stop their search of the shards; so he dragged Kagome with him and they set out in the next direction.

A faint rustle was heard behind her. She turned her head swiftly staring into the dark bush where she presumed the sound had come from. Her light blue eyes stared into the darkness, trying to make a figure out of the darkness. Inuyasha still in the throes of his argument with Myouga, obviously hadn't heard the sound. She gently grabbed Inuyasha's arm and shook him.

'What is it?' he said gruffly, and for good measure he added 'wench.' in an undertone, a light frown on his face that deepened when he saw her face.

'There's something out there.' she whispered pointing a shaking finger at the bushes behind her.

Inuyasha looked at her like she was insane. 'Why is it that I highly doubt that? If there was something out there, I would've smelt it.' he said, his voice full of skepticism as he turned back to Myouga.

When she didn't answer back, he snorted before turning back to face her. 'Fine, if it'll calm ya down. I'll go and…' he stopped mid-sentence, fear starting to clench at his gut. Kagome wasn't there!

'Kagome!' he yelled out 'This isn't funny Kagome, get back here!'

Panic inset onto him when he didn't hear her chirpy voice reply. He immediately fell to the ground and sniffed out her delicate scent and growled when he found it. It was hers alright, but he could tell that there had been another youkai that grabbed her.

'Master Inuyasha, what is it?' Myouga screamed at him from his shoulder 'Where is she?'

Inuyasha ignored the annoying flea's voice and set off in the direction of her scent. Flying past trees and bushes, Kagome's scent imprinted on his mind; he stopped in front of a cave. 'She's in there.' He thought growling. And he raced into the cave and stopped immediately as he saw a bat youkai hunched over her being.

'No wonder I couldn't smell it.' he thought before he yelled out 'Kagome!' as he saw the bat youkai cradling her body and about to bite into her neck. He pulled out Tetsusaiga and swished it through the air, catching the youkai's eye.

The bat looked up and stopped his fangs from entering Kagome's flesh. The youkai's eyes widened as he stared at the red-clad figure with the massive sword and the furious glowing amber eyes. He immediately dropped the girl and dropped down to the floor, his face pressed against the ground as he whimpered and pleaded.

'Please, InuTaishou-sama.' the youkai whined 'Do not hurt me. I didn't know this was your mate. I apologize for my insolence but please spare me.'

Inuyasha blinked, once than twice. Why was a youkai, a full blooded youkai, groveling at his, a lowly hanyou's, feet? And what had he called him? His sword transformed again and he sheathed it.

'Get up.' he snarled, picking up the back of the youkai's haori. Inuyasha looked over the demon's face; a look of terror and awe alighting across the bat youkai's face. 'What did you call me?' he snarled into the trembling demon's face.

'InuTaishou-Sama, Sir' the demon said, his voice shaking. Inuyasha dropped the demon with a surprised look and watched with confused eyes as the demon scrambled up again.

'InuTaishou.' Inuyasha mused to himself. 'Toga InuTaishou?' he asked the now calmer youkai. The bat nodded nervously. Inuyasha blinked again. 'My father?'

It was a while before Inuyasha could speak again, to summon up words that could clear everything.

'I'm not Toga InuTaishou.' he said firmly, 'I'm his son, Inuyasha.'

These words clearly made an impression on the bat youkai, but not one he expected. Hate, he expected, Recognition, he expected. Even disgust, he expected that one most of all. But no, from the bat youkai came a look of confusion and, this shook Inuyasha most of all, the youkai started laughing.

'No, that can't be true.' The youkai said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes with a patronizing look on his face 'The InuTaishou-sama does not have any sons.'

Inuyasha was hit by another wave of confusion. How could this demon not know that one of the most respected and feared demons in all of Japan was dead? And had been dead for almost a century?

'InuTaishou has been dead for almost a hundred years, youkai.' Inuyasha snarled, his temper getting the better of him. How could this lowly bat demon not know of his father's demise?

The bat immediately sobered up. 'Are you absolutely sure of this, boy?' he said urgently, getting up from his spot on the floor and staring into Inuyasha's eyes with his own black ones.

Inuyasha nodded resolutely, not understanding why this demon would question him. He was about to ask a question when he noticed the youkai mumbling to himself.

'Not dead. Impossible. Unless the Eiji's continued attempts to reach him were in vain.' The bat mumbled. His voice grew louder as he addressed Inuyasha now. 'Boy, can you carry the girl?' the youkai asked sharply.

'K'eh'

'I'll take that as a yes. Pick up your girl and wait for a minute.'

Inuyasha furrowed his brows and slowly walked over to the motionless girl on the ground and picked her up and positioned her as easily as he could onto his back. He didn't think that this bat was a threat anymore but he knew to be wary of him and bat's easy transportation .

The bat was chanting something under his breath, his eyes shut and his breathing leveled. Inuyasha stared at the being as the bat's youki flew up around them, tingeing into a powerful red until it completely blocked out Inuyasha's sight. All of a sudden it faded and he was no longer in the cave.

Instead he was in front of two large wooden doors. He blinked, confused as ever as he took in his surroundings. No longer in the dark damp cave, but in a green field filled with wildflowers. He wished Kagome was awake to see it. He looked at her to make sure she was okay, only to find her still sleeping silently.

The bat had immediately rounded in front of the doors and knocked, creating a massive banging noise that rattled to Inuyasha's very core. A youkai stuck its head out over the massive wall and started chattering insanely in a youkai language. The bat youkai responded immediately and gestured towards Inuyasha. The youkai on the wall shifted his gaze and stared at Inuyasha before he disappeared and the doors started to open.

The bat looked over his shoulders and stared inquisitively at the bewildered hanyou, an amused smile on his face. Inuyasha folded his gaze towards the ground as they started to enter the massive castle grounds. He could hear dozens of youkai all murmuring as he and the bat youkai moved past them.

Of course, Inuyasha was used to it, but the gentle murmuring weren't words of hate and disgust but of confusion and curiosity. His sharp ears swiveled in all different directions as he caught snippets of conversation.

'InuTaishou-sama?'

'So after all this time he finally returns.'

'I wonder what has become of his mate.'

Inuyasha trained his eyes to the back of the bat demon's neck. And with his head held high he followed past the curious eyes of the massive building. The bat led him through countless doors until all of a sudden he stopped in front of another set of massive doors.

'Here is where I leave you, Inuyasha-sama.' The bat said, bowing low, 'My name is Aki. I served under your father in the rebellion. It was an honor to meet the blood of the great InuTaishou-sama.' And with those words the bat youkai vanished and the doors that stood in front of Inuyasha started to open.

He must've been an odd sight to the dozens of beings in the massive courtroom. A hanyou clad in red with an unconscious girl on his back. All of a sudden the hall became silent as he stared into the room, awkward and nervous. A path cleared to a figure sitting in a large throne at the front of the room. Inuyasha squinted, trying to make out the figure sitting in the chair, but could only make out a lone figure gesturing to him to walk forward. Inuyasha gulped as he started making his way forward through the hoards of royally dressed youkai.

Inuyasha clung to Kagome even more when he noticed everyone's eyes on him. He looked around warily, keeping his face neutral and calm but inside scared for his life. The walk to that throne was probably the longest walk of his life, even when infusing some hanyou power into his pace.

As he got closer to the throne he started to make out the now clear form. He could see the piercing green eyes and short blue hair. A ring dangled from his pointed ear and his clothes were elaborately decorated with different fabrics and beautiful designs. Inuyasha noticed the similarity between this youkai's clothes and his brother's. Except for the boa on his arm, their clothes were practically the same style.

The youkai regarded him with a cool gaze as Inuyasha finally reached the front of the throne. Inuyasha, taking that this being was royal, awkwardly bent down on one knee, almost over-balancing because of the added weight on his back. He lowered his head as he heard the youkai seated in the chair get up and wander towards him. He could feel the youkai's eyes glaring through him.

'Everybody Out!' he yelled clearing the hall of all it's seemingly influential youkai.

'Up.' The youkai said, calmly but gruff and forbidding. Inuyasha clambered up, his eyes still trained to the ground. The youkai had started pacing around him; regarding Inuyasha with an inquisitive gaze, looking him up and down, causing Inuyasha to clench onto Kagome even more.

His ears flicked as he heard the youkai stop in front of him. Inuyasha chanced a glance up, only to find the youkai looking at him with a kind gaze, one of recognition and friendship.

'You look just like your father, Inuyasha, son of Toga InuTaishou.' The youkai said in a calm voice. Inuyasha looked up, his golden eyes large and shining as he asked 'My father?' in a shaky voice.

The youkai looked at him with a soft look. 'I am Eiji Fujishima, Lord of the South Lands; but before I was one of the trusted friends of the great Inu-Youkai, InuTaishou-Sama.'

These words struck Inuyasha dumb for a second. This youkai, or Fujishima, he should say, knew or at least had known his father. His stunned silence caused Fujishima to drop his tender gaze and exchange it for a hard one. He shook Inuyasha's shoulder hard.

'Inuyasha, your father. Where is he?' Fujishima asked urgently.

'Dead and been dead for almost a century. My brother, Sesshoumaru has taken over control of the West Lands.' Inuyasha responded immediately, not registering what was happening. His words caused the Youkai Lord to start pacing yet again.

'Then the time has come.' Fujishima mumbled to himself, before staring at the hanyou with a commanding look. 'Inuyasha, during your father's life, he kept a journal of all his journeys. After he died, your mother left these scrolls to my control. For the past century, I have kept these scrolls locked in the Scroll room, not even allowing the official scroll reader to read them. No one in my court has ever read these but I believe that you, Inuyasha, son of Toga InuTaishou, should be the first to read the scrolls of your father.'

Again, when Inuyasha didn't answer, he became nervous and started mumbling.

'If you don't want to, you don't have to, it was just a suggestion. Your father would've wanted it.'

Inuyasha stared up at his piercing green eyes with his bright amber ones. Those eyes clearly showed truth and kindness and even a bit of fear; Inuyasha couldn't smell any lies or hate. 'Show me.' Inuyasha said quietly but resolutely, his gaze never leaving the older youkai.

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Inuyasha dropped Kagome off in a room where she could sleep off her youkai induced nap. Inuyasha wouldn't leave her, despite his ever-growing curiosity about his father's journal, until Aki returned and promised to wait and tell her what had happened when she woke up.

It took three hours to find the hundreds of scrolls that were written by his father. Lord Fujishima let him stay in the room with the countless numbers of scrolls that his father had written, spanning over the course of two-hundred and fifty years. Inuyasha ran his hands up the faded writing and the withering paper. Inuyasha grabbed all of them and sat down at the table that had been provided for him.

'Argh!' Inuyasha growled in frustration after an hour trying to make out the figures on the scrolls.

'Inuyasha?' a small voice said from the door of the window-less room. He turned around to find Kagome staring at him with a confused look. 'Are you alright?'

She came down the steps leading into the room with papers scattered in all directions. Inuyasha had turned his head back to the scrolls again, fingering the ripped up sides. 'How long have you been down here?' Kagome asked patiently as she delicately picked up a heavy scroll.

'Four hours.'

'How much have you…'

'I can't read.'

Kagome blinked. 'You can't...?'

Inuyasha cut her off again 'I was only seven when my mother died, I didn't get taught how to read.'

An uncomfortable silence settled on the two. Kagome looked at the poor hanyou with a pitying look and pulled the first scroll from Inuyasha's clawed hands.

'I can read it.' She said quietly.

Inuyasha looked at her with such a happy gaze that she thought she'd said something else, like Naraku was dead. Kagome sent a warm smile towards him as he nodded

towards the scroll.

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"_31st day of Shimotsuki (November 1480)_

_Is it wrong to believe that Chichi-ue hates me? Is it? Is it wrong to believe that he cares more for his ugly retainer Jaken than he cares for me? Is wrong to think that he wouldn't care for me, even if I saved his life?_

_I guess it isn't. Because everything I asked is true. All I want is Chichi-ue's respect. But he denies it. Even when I left the castle and wandered, not only did he even bother to try and find me when my mother died, but he had taken three other concubines before I found out about my mother's death._

_It bothers me how he did not even care for my mother. I know it was an arranged marriage and that his Chichi-ue had forced him to marry against his will, but you would believe that even he would show a bit of compassion towards her. She raised me well before I went out to travel but I didn't expect her to die. _

_She had never been a frail demon; she was a strong demon, and never got sick, even when the bout of the plague came over us and everyone got sick. Even Chichi-ue. Her eyes were like beautiful sapphire waters and her hair was always soft and silky, the color of chestnuts. She was beautiful whenever she wasn't crying; I never understood why _

_Chichi-ue, who looks so much like I do, beat the wonderful woman who raised me and took care of me whenever he went to sieges. My father with his long silver hair in a low bun and cold amber eyes and strong stature, beat her._

_Actually I don't really want Chichi-ue's respect, I want an apology for everything he put my mother and I throughout the years."_

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'What a tragic story,' Kagome thought, a sad look plastered to her face 'I wonder what he looked like.' She looked up and saw another assortment of scrolls and glancing over them saw that they were from before, during his travels. She picked up the next scroll in the pile that she had started with and started to read.

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"_20th day of Shiwasu (December 1480)_

_It's my birthday today; 250 years of age. Chichi-ue constantly reminds me of when he became betrothed at 250 years of age and my duty to be as well. So, I do not have a choice on whether or not this bond will be right or not_

_I bribed Myouga to go and listen in for me, because I would be reprimanded sternly by father if I went._

_This is the conversation that Myouga relayed to me:_

"_Ah, Meiji, Lord of the Asahara clan from the Eastern Lands. Welcome." My father said, greeting him in his warm voice getting up from his throne and descending to grasp the hand of the other youkai, a Swan youkai. _

"_InuTaishou.' Meiji said sternly, nodding his head. I remember meeting Meiji, a very stern man, cold and harsh. My father forever tells tales of his cruelty and malice, so I was concerned as to why he was here. _

"_My son, Toga, is ready for a mate. And you have five daughters. All of which would make a perfect mate for my son." _

"_I have expected as much. Your son wanders too freely for his own good. When I came, he was sitting outside writing on some scroll. None of my daughters know how to read and I think their purity will be corrupted if they take part in such a vulgar pastime. _

_Reading and writing should be for monks, not demon lords."_

_When Myouga told me that part I started laughing so hard, what kind of Lord would I be if I didn't know how to read or write."_

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Kagome looked up as she read this to see Inuyasha's expression, which had fallen dramatically, his eyes crestfallen and sad, almost heartbroken. She continued reading, not wanting to look into his emotions at the moment.

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"_My son will be a demon Lord one day so he must learn how to read. But we are not here to discuss that. We are here to discuss a joining of your clan to my territory aren't we? Which one of your daughters would make the best match, or be most suitable to my son, Meiji?"_

"_All of my daughters are suitable. It's your son who I do not believe in."_

"_Do not try to insult my methods in childrearing Asahara. He is my son and I shall raise him the way I see fit."_

_I smiled when I heard him say this. He obviously did not like this demon who could insult me so easily and in our own household. But he can sometimes be rather cold. And harsh. But he is my father and I shall respect him. Well, to an extent._

"_I don't expect you to understand why I see your son unfit, he is, at the least, a hundred years younger than every one of my daughters."_

"_Meiji, I do not care for your indecent chatter. What daughter would best suit my son as a mate?"_

_Conversation ended there as Chichi-ue and Meiji went outside to meet the daughter that Asahara had chosen._

_I just met her a short while ago._

_I have been betrothed to the first daughter of the Asahara Clan, Hana. She is close to a hundred years older than me but Father insists that this is a good match. It will bring much strength to the InuTaishou clan and the West Lands. We will be mated in ten moons on the turn of the year. _

_She is very beautiful, with long silver hair and lovely purple eyes. She has a set of wings alighting on her shoulders that are a lovely green hue. She is a swan youkai and is gifted with the ability of flight and poison from her wings but her blood will not dominate in our heirs and the pups that we have will be InuYoukais. Chichi-ue believes that her strength could marvel mine. Although, despite her sweet temperament in the face of our father and hers, she has the kindness of a wild boar; she is rude and harsh she even went to beat a small kitsune child that had stumbled into her. I was disturbed at this blatant act of cruelty. I never wanted a mate that was this angry._

_But I shall mate with her for the good of our territory. And hopefully we will be a good match. Though, I know it is wrong to say it, or write it, I doubt we will be."_

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Kagome glanced up at Inuyasha who was staring at her with rapture, like a little boy wanting to hear more of the story. She smirked, wondering if he heard Myouga's reference. She giggled, causing Inuyasha to stumble out of his daydream.

'What?' he demanded, but he only saw Kagome searching through the next couple of scrolls.

'They're countless scrolls about your father's life with his mate.' Kagome looked up at Inuyasha apologetically, 'Or his first mate. And this is just one year.'

Kagome glimpsed through some of the scrolls to find Sesshoumaru's name in one. She started to read it, mumbling to herself, not thinking Inuyasha cared to hear about his brother. But Inuyasha listened anyways, his white ears flicking in her direction.

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"_2nd day of Shimotsuki (November 1411)_

_Our first son was born today! We have been waiting for this ever since we heard he news of Hana's conception, five months ago. We named him Sesshoumaru, Hana's idea. _

_Killing Life Circle. Sounds quite foreboding to me, but I let her name him. And the month's name, The Month of Frost. Let's just say that the month is the only thing frosty". _

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Kagome blinked, 'Was Inuyasha's father…?' she left the question hanging to Inuyasha who had blinked as well, confused. Kagome read on.

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_"Hana has only snapped at me since Sesshoumaru's birth. I believe her new animosity towards me has something to do with the fact that Sesshoumaru didn't smile at her like he did at me._

_He's a lovely boy. Strong, healthy, just like his Otou. I hope his mother calms down enough to hold him. Not once has she held him unlike me. I've held him ever since he's been born. I know I won't have time to care for the boy if his Okaa doesn't. I do not want my son deprived of his Okaa's affection."_

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She sifted through countless scrolls after that, to find snippets of conversation talking about Sesshoumaru and the lack of attention he was receiving. 'These belong with Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha.' she said quietly, still glaring hard at a scroll in her hands, just to avoid Inuyasha's incredulous gaze.

'You're right.'

Kagome looked up as Inuyasha had picked up the scroll she just read. Although he couldn't read it, she could tell he was thinking over the things she had just read.

'He deserves to know this just as much as I do.' Inuyasha said, finally looking up, his gold eyes cold and hard. Kagome nodded silently. She let a small smile grace her features; feeling the nervousness at her gut melt away.

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"_30th day of Uzuki (April 1422)_

_Hana died today. From what, it cannot be told for even I do not know. But not a single person in our household shed any sadness. Not even Sesshoumaru, which bothered me the most. _

_If one has no feeling for their own Okaa, than they would have feelings for none._

_I must contact the Asahara clan and send my regards and"_

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Kagome let out a loud yawn.

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"_condolences."_

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Inuyasha glanced up, a look of concern on his face. 'Kagome?' he asked slowly. He glanced at the candles that had been brought in by Aki earlier while Kagome was reading. He grimaced as he noticed the candles had gotten shorter.

Kagome chanced a glimpse at her watch. '11:30' she thought her eyes blurring 'We've been in here for almost six hours.'

'Go to your room, Kagome.'

Kagome looked at him squinting, her eyes almost collapsing on their own.

'You're tired and obviously need to sleep. Today's been busy. Go. I'll meet you in a while.' he said, letting an unusual gentleness overtake his voice.

'Thank you, Inuyasha.' Kagome said as she got up from her chair and stretched her back.

Just as Kagome reached the door of the small room she heard a noise. 'Thank you.' She just smiled as she walked away.

Inuyasha waited until Kagome had left the room when he pulled out another scroll, one of the scrolls in the pile Fujishima had left him. He pulled it out and glanced at it.

It wasn't a scroll but a large picture of his father. Long silver hair held up in a high ponytail at the top of his head, with elegant clothes with plain designs but still majestic, a long sword held in his fists, two jagged red stripes on his face and a large white boa falling from his shoulders. Inuyasha stared in earnest as he looked at his fathers golden gaze, so much like his own. His father's gaze was hard and furious but with a hint of kindness hiding in those eyes gazing at him. Inuyasha could almost hear the wind singing in the background and the sword swiping through the air as he gazed on his father's face. And when Inuyasha looked hard enough, he could see a figure of a dog; his Otou, in his demon form.

Inuyasha smiled as he put away the picture and left the room to find Kagome and join her in the world of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Tales of an InuTaishou **

**Karma's Haven**

Disclaimer:I do not own Inuyasha

_Italics: _indicate journal entries

Chapter 2

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"_Myouga keeps telling me to acquire a sword, but I can not be bothered to carry a specific sword with a name. I will settle for any katana that is balanced and strong, but Myouga insisted on carrying on the argument by starting into another lecture about the properness of being a youkai lord and having a proper image. And then I slapped him off my neck for starting to suck again."_

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Kagome giggled again. 'How many times has Inuyasha done that.' she thought to herself eliciting another giggle. Myouga had disappeared once again, issuing a careful excuse as to why he had to visit the Sango's village but just an excuse to get away from Inuyasha once he heard that Myouga had known and traveled with his father and never given any sort of indication of knowing stories about InuTaishou. And that his father's retainer had been Myouga, just like his grandfather's had been Jaken.

For someone who didn't like to waste time doing frivolous activities, Inuyasha had spent three days looking over his father's journals and war efforts and some of his grandfather's war plans. His grandfather had disappeared from all Toga's notes and scrolls so they presumed that he had died. Toga didn't write everyday anymore, more like an interval of months or even years, just at major events. Also, apparently, Toga hadn't bothered to keep his journal entries in order so they had spent a day trying to just figure out the order of the scrolls.

And if that wasn't frustrating enough, Kagome had to deal with Inuyasha bugging her in the early hours of the morning to get up and read more of the scrolls. The first day, it's been cute. But the next day when he woke her up by throwing her into a cold bath, that just pissed her off.

Kagome sighed, not for the first time that day, when Inuyasha started to grumble.

'Get on with the story, wench.'

She shook her head, best not to argue with the grumpy hanyou.

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"_Sesshoumaru has been bothering me again about going out and patrolling the borders in my stead. Yes, he is almost sixty years of age; he is still young and foolish. He let's the opponent take the upper hand far too easily. I just hope his sword skills will help him."_

"_4th day of Minuzuki (June, 1469)_

_Sesshoumaru went out to patrol the borders against my will. I expected him to come back within a day, bent and broken. But he came back almost a month later with a satchel of goods that he reprimanded off bandits terrorizing the human villages to the north of my territory. To say the least, I am proud of him."_

"_18th day of Shimotsuki (November 1472)_

_Word of youkai attacks in the Southern region on the humans there. Must leave the castle. Leaving the castle guard to Sesshoumaru while I go out and stop them." _

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Kagome had trouble reading that because it was so rushed and messy and made a noise of disgruntlement. Inuyasha just looked through the war plans let attached to that scroll.

There were dozens of war maps and strategies, all drawn in his father's hand. Inuyasha could see the delicate imprints and the elegant figures on the page. He traced his clawed fingers over the images as Kagome watched entranced at what she saw him doing. Despite his gruff disposition, he was actually quite gentle and caring, the last few days had proved it, much like they had learned his father had been.

He looked up at her and frowned.

'What?'

'Nothing,' she said, blushing and looking away. She picked up another scroll and looked at it and blinked as she saw the date.

'Four years?' she murmured 'He didn't write in four years.' She could almost see the tiredness in his writing at this next entry.

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"_7th day of Uzuki (April 1476)_

_Well, the siege in the South was resolved easily enough. The wolf youkai there had been disputing a land argument and had started taking out their frustrations on the human villages there._

_They stopped after I got through with them though._

_The humans there were almost dead when I reached them, half of them were on the brink of death from the plague that had seized the lives of most of the village men so there were only old men, women and children. Or so I thought it was a plague._

_I copied the following conversation here:_

"_Thank you, InuTaishou-sama. Thank you for saving my village and my children." The headman said, practically groveling._

"_Human, why are you still here? Your lives depend on you moving to another home." I said._

"_The Daimyo, Saitoh, ordered us to stay here to sacrifice our village to sate the needs of the wolf youkai and to keep them from attacking his castle. We would gladly have gone if he hadn't threatened us by killing our harvest and murdering the young men in our village. Many women lost sons and husbands in that attack by General Saitoh and his army." The head man said gesturing to the village and the many village women standing behind him._

_I was outraged when I heard this, a human general attacking his own kind, just to protect a castle. I ordered the people in that village to leave and find shelter at the nearest village. My orders override his. They thanked me greatly and gave me enough food to feed me for years. I denied everything, telling them that they needed it for their journey. Half of them were starving already. I could not take their food._

_I must go see this Daimyo and find out what he is doing to the other villages. As I came back, I learned that they had also been plundered by this general's army. I am stunned to learn that he's been terrorizing the humans in my land for decades._

"_You should leave these humans to deal with them selves. If they've survived for decades they can survive for a while longer." was Sesshoumaru's answer when I told him about my latest discoveries. _

_But I silenced him soon enough. His lack of compassion astounds me, but it's less than what I expected with his mother's lack of consideration as well._

_I must head to that district and find this Daimyo's palace. Sesshoumaru is being left in charge again. He does well, but Jaken seems to be more beaten up."_

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Kagome glanced up to see an amused smile playing across his face. It looked so natural on him, but he never smiled like that; unless there was something to yell at or kill. Sighing at her companions' simple-minded amusements, she rubbed her eyes starting to read another scroll.

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"_2nd day of Hazuki (August 1476)_

_I am at the Daimyo's palace for the moment after spending months setting things in order for my departure. I absolutely denied any entourage of any kind, because I would assume that half my household would want to come. I'm all alone. Well, Myouga tried to come but I sent him back half-way here,_

_I appeared at the massive pair of wooden doors after traveling for about twenty minutes. The doormen there seemed quite nervous of me even when I told them who I was. It was rather funny. They could've been small human children for the way that they acted. I'm not that large and scary and foreboding. _

_I could be, but I'm not._

_And when they wouldn't let me in the gate after almost an hour of just pointless bickering, I jumped over the doors and landed in the middle of a quiet courtyard. I walked up through the deserted yard, up a walkway of marble that I thought was a tad too rich for a mere mortal general. And when I pushed open the second massive set of doors, doors that would've taken at least six humans to open, I was greeted with a group of seemingly influential humans in strange costumes and all staring at me._

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'Sounds like our entrance here.' Inuyasha thought, a grin tracing his face.

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"_I kept a calm, leveled gaze attentive to the front of the room, but wanted to laugh at the frightful looks of the humans ahead of me. There mouth's wide and open and there shocked assortment of black and brown eyes all following my every move. My, I must have looked a sight. _

_They were obviously afraid, I could've smelled there fear from miles away. But none of there fear was as strong as the Daimyo's. I could see him, and smell him easily having recognized his scent from some of the villages I had passed earlier. _

_And when I finally approached him, he immediately got up and left. Right in my presence; he got up and left the entire room. The insolence! I was so appalled. He just left me standing there which was not only un-hospitable but remarkably disrespectful. I had half a mind to go and follow the man who had fled my sight and drag him back into my presence and the presence of all the human's staring at me._

_Then another human came out of the doors that separated me from that disgusting human and told me that there was a room for me and that the Daimyo would need his rest and we would meet with me tomorrow._

_I nodded and stated that I understood and allowed him to lead me to a room. _

_But before I left the room with all the humans in it only one stood out towards me. A girl; a young human girl, probably only eighteen winters old and for a moment I wondered why she was not mated like most of the rest of the human females in the multitude of humans. I do not understand what drew me to her. Was it her beautiful violet eyes, or her long raven hair, or the way she seemed to be looking at me with such confusion and utter astonishment that made me stare back with such unabashed perplex ion that caused her to look away._

_And when I sniffed out her scent from all the humans around her, I couldn't find a particular scent; just a scent of something unknown, like the stars or the sun or the moon. It was just so amazing; I've never smelt a human with such an alluring scent. _

_But underneath that beautiful scent, that beautiful, delicate scent, I could smell that she was the Daimyo's daughter."_

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The shuffling of papers and Kagome reaching was the only noise that could be heard between the pair. Both, so immensely wrapped into the story, were quiet when Kagome started to read again.

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"_3rd day of Hazuki (April 1476)_

_I talked to the Daimyo today, and it was a quite unusual affair. _

_I was summoned quite early, but I did not mind, considering I hadn't slept at all. I was drawn to the quiet balcony that was connected to my room and I had stayed out there all night. When I left my room, I expected to be assaulted with a barrage of different smells, but not a single smell could be found except for mine and the human's. It seemed that the corridor I had been sleeping in was empty, deserted because a wild youkai Lord was taking residence in it. _

_When I entered the room I had been in when I first saw the Daimyo, I got a good look at the human for the first time. A portly, ugly, old man who seemed squashed into his chair that smelled strongly of sake. I stared at him with disgust that I disguised as calm as I looked him over. I could smell his fear from behind the doors and when I entered into the room; his fear seemed to touch everything. His courtiers, his scroll-writers, everything looked awkward and stiff._

_All except her. She was there again and I wondered what kind of human law allowed the women to listen in on important issues like this. _

_But I ignored her presence, well, as well as I could because every breath I took I could almost feel her alluring scent linger in my senses. _

"_Saitoh," I said, nodding my head slightly to show some respect but refusing to call him by his rank. _

"_InuTaishou-sama, Welcome to my home." He said spreading his arms like his home was something to be marveled at. I wasn't surprised at this pompous human's subtle boastings of his castle, which was beautiful for a human, but nothing compared to my home. _

_He regarded me with a scrutinous gaze, looking me up and down and I noticed his gaze stop at the armor on my chest and my boa falling from my shoulders and trailing behind me. He stretched his hand out like he wanted me to state my issues like some commoner; and when he did not offer me a seat, I made a small sigh before starting into my accusations. _

_I stated the issues that I had found to the Daimyo who sat there and listened to them with tempered quiet, his fear fading away to anger as he listened silently to what I told him and how his actions were wrong and harmful to the humans in MY territory. I accented the use of my territory. But his reactions were completely unexpected._

"_Why is it that you, a demon lord, have come to tell a human about things that he has been doing for the sake and safety of his family? I only told that village to stay there because I worried about the safety of my family. And I fully intended to go back and help wipe out the youkai slaughter."_

_All of a sudden I could smell new scents; the scent of untruth radiating of the Daimyo and complete disgust radiating off the daughter. I shifted my gaze to her to see her brows furrowed and her eyes holding a disapproving glint as she gazed at her father from her spot of the futon below him, her mouth partially open. I could tell that she, like I knew that her father was lying._

_"Well, Saitoh, those thoughts occurred to me," I started, clearly trying to bait him, "but you did this strange massacre almost five months ago. And I would believe that there would have been a more appropriate way of saving this village by letting all the young men live so they could fight off this hoard. Apparently, you attacked this village for no reason, making them stay or else they would die. A lose-lose situation in my eyes for these people, Daimyo." I had purposely baited him into admitting this disgusting murder and said his title with such mock that I wasn't surprised at his reaction. _

_He got up out of his chair, almost needing some assistance in pulling his fat posterior out of the chair. "Don't even dare to accuse me of murdering the humans who live in your territory. I have done nothing wrong."_

_And all of a sudden his daughter, got up, anger radiating off of her, and she left the room, startling all of us. _

_Saitoh regained his mind first, "Excuse my daughter, InuTaishou-sama. She is insolent and naïve." He shook himself slightly, shaking himself of his previous rage._

"_How can you accuse me of a murder when dozens of crazed youkai like yourself have murdered humans?" he said, sitting back down, an evil smirk commanding his features. My eyes narrowed, and I almost rose to his accusation, but kept myself in check. If this human could make me angry enough to kill him, his accusation would be correct. I calmed myself before speaking again. _

"_I regret to inform you, Daimyo, that despite your knowledge I control the Western Lands and all its inhabitants. If you find the need to go and massacre villages to protect a castle probably worth more than all the villages put together, than you should consult me because my orders will discontinue your sickening attitude. You're to assemble an army and go back to the villages that you destroyed and help them rebuild their homes. And leave a part of your army there so the village that you commanded to keep the wolf youkai away won't have to lose more of their villagers. Good day, Saitoh" and with that I turned away, starting to walk away. I could smell the Daimyo's anger. And as I reached the doors, I stopped and turned back._

"_Do not try and lie about your family, Saitoh. I know there is only your daughter." And with that I left the room, leaving the human seething._

_I walked the corridors, basking in my triumph at exposing the "Daimyo". How he ever got that title, I do not know, but I will proceed to strip him of that title immediately. But as I headed to my room, I found his daughter there, waiting outside my closed door._

_I stopped a few yards from her as she just sat there leaning against the door, her eyes closed and her breathing even. I took a step closer when she opened her eyes and snapped her gaze to my direction. She blushed and moved to her knees._

"_Inutaishou-Sama. Forgive me, my apologies are needed." she said, extending her upper body to the ground with her head facing the ground as well, prostrating herself in front of me. _

_I watched her calmly, making my face betray nothing, but inside my mind was churning. Why was this girl apologizing for her father's insolence?_

"_It was disrespectful of me to leave in the middle of your meeting with my father." she said, still on the ground clearing my thoughts._

_I still watched her and I could start to smell the nervousness emit off her prostrated body. I bent down and lifted her head off the ground and stared at her._

_Her eyes were beautiful and radiant, bright like she was on the verge of tears but not. I usually do not like to be touched by humans because they can be sweaty and sticky but when I grabbed her hand and pulled her off the ground, her palm was moist but still dry and when she reached her full height she just reached my chin, easily taller than her father._

_I stepped back and looked her over, she no longer smelled angry but her pleasant scent once again. I looked over her beautiful kimono with lovely flower decoration across the obi and a light blue color under it._

"_What is your name, girl?" I asked softly, not wanting to scare her away when she seemed so calm._

_She didn't seem startled by my question but bowed her head slightly and lightly folding her hands together, smiling while saying her name. "Izayoi, my name is Izayoi." Saying it so calmly and so freely, I didn't hesitate to express my gratitude when she invited me to a tour of her castle and the surrounding areas later tonight._

_A knock has sounded on my door; I should answer it because I know it is Izayoi waiting to come for the walk I promised her."_

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Kagome looked up to see Inuyasha right beside her. She started before he laid a clawed hand on her shoulder and kept her from leaping up in surprise.

'Which one is my Mother's name?' he asked with the softness of a child asking for his mother after being lost for so long. She blinked as she pointed to the figure on the scroll of his mother's name.

Inuyasha grabbed the scroll and sat back down with it, his hand immediately tracing over the beautiful figure on the scroll, like he was caressing his mother's face. Kagome could see tears start to well up with tears of sadness.

Kagome blinked, she never saw Inuyasha cry, he was usually pretty quiet, not one to let his emotions all over the place, but she didn't state this aloud because she knew he was reminiscing about his beloved mother and her eyes welled with tears as well, feeling the sadness and pain radiating off Inuyasha's bent form.

Kagome reached over and grabbed Inuyasha's hand and squeezed it slightly, just to let him know she was there. They sat like that in silence for a moment just letting the pain that Inuyasha had welled inside himself for so long.

Kagome grabbed the next scroll and looked at the date finding the next day. 'Want me to go on?' she said softly, like she was talking to a child that needed comforting.

Inuyasha sniffed before rubbing his nose and grunting.

'K'eh!'

Kagome smiled and went on.

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"_4th day of Hazuki (April 1476)_

_Saitoh and his army went out today to go and see to the villages. Of course, I had to give him a little push into getting it all sorted out. A real Daimyo would've been out to the villages' days ago. But I plan to stay here a couple more days, I expected to leave the day Saitoh left to clean up the villages, but his daughter has enlightened me into staying._

_When I answered the door and met with Izayoi, she was wearing a lighter kimono, one not even as fashionable as the one she was wearing before. It was a pale green with a beautiful row of butterflies decorating the hem but the colors and the butterflies only served to make her beautiful violet eyes stand out more._

_What really intrigued me was that when I looked at the butterflies I thought of how much more like a butterfly Izayoi was; gentle and delicate._

_She led me out to the courtyard, that was, to no surprise, empty. And I wondered why Izayoi was allowed to be alone with me; what about her ladies-in-waiting, her father, wouldn't they object to her spending time with a "crazed youkai?"_

_And when I asked her this, she smiled and laughed. Her laugh was like bells and it seemed to skip through the air. _

"_I am my own lady, InuTaishou-sama. I do not allow my father to control every aspect of my life." But when she looked at me she said "My ladies will probably be out of there minds when they don't find me in the baths." I was surprised at her daring; I'd never met a female who'd defied people like that; no less a human female. _

_Once she led me across the courtyard, she beckoned me into another clearing, leading me into a garden. It was the most beautiful place in all of Saitoh's palace. I was surprised because I hadn't smelt the flowers and the running water, probably because I was occupied with confronting Saitoh. But she started walking forward and I caught up with her easily._

_If I could, I would regale the conversations we had, but I don't remember what we talked about that well, because all I could think about was how beautiful she was for a human. _

_But I remember telling her that I would meet her again tonight._

_I think I should stay in this palace of Saitoh's for a while longer, just to make sure he comes back and has done his duty though."_

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Toga stayed in Saitoh's castle for three more weeks, telling everyone that he was waiting for General Saitoh, who had been demoted to that position, to return but Kagome could tell that he was staying and waiting for his soon to be daily walks and talks with Izayoi.

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"_12th day of Hazuki (April 1476)_

_I don't know what draws me to this small, fragile creature. She seems so delicate and easy but with our conversations, she sets her opinions out and lets them be known. Izayoi is amazing like that; she can seem calm and kind, but she can be tempered. It amuses me greatly, because although she gets frustrated easily, she never raises her fist in anger. I've never seen someone act as such; no male not afraid of me, and no female not trying to get me into their bed or groveling at my feet telling me not to kill them. _

_But she seems so much more different. I can not even describe how different she makes me feel. Like something bad jumping around my stomach, like when I ate those duck tongues when I was traveling, but turning good when I see her. It all seems so strange. And every night I find myself up to all hours of the night, telling myself that I will leave the next day, but when I see her, all those thoughts fly out of my mind._

_And why does she want to see me; that question bothers me the most, no one approves of our visits to the various places around the castle because they are always empty whenever we stop at these places. And whenever I come into contact with other humans in the castle they seem rather irritated by my presence. But I do not mind, as long as I get to see Izayoi. _

_Why would Izayoi, a daughter of an influential human, well, an almost influential human want to see me though. Beautiful and graceful, she could claim any suitor she wanted, gain new lands, and make good alliances, all if she smiled her pretty smile in the right directions. But she doesn't; too kind-hearted and too sweet for her own good; she doesn't seem like the type who could handle manipulating someone like that._

_Whenever I see Izayoi, she genuinely seems so happy to see me; her face will light up and her smile grows and I can smell the beautiful aroma of her happiness. It amazes me that she can be so happy and so sad, never an in between. _

_And I find it so easy to tell her about my thoughts, something I've never done before. I told her about my father, about how he treated my mother, how he treated me. And she didn't brush it off, like it was something natural. Quite the contrary actually, she answered back with words like:_

"_Why do you think he acted like that?" _

_and_

"_How did that make you feel?" _

_Like she actually cares about what I say and how I feel about it. I can tell that she isn't as shy as she seemed when she first met me. _

_But she seems to be able to identify with my problems, I do think she has the same feelings about her father, when I told her about her father lying, she laughed coldly telling me about how he'd told her the same thing but she'd overheard some of the soldiers bragging about killing an old man to rape his daughter. She seemed so angry and when she tried to confront her father, he laughed it off telling her that it was all false. But I won't forget her expression when she talked about that, cold and harsh; the first time I'd ever seen her like that._

_Izayoi seems older for her age and younger for her age. That sounds strange but at times it seems like it._

_So everyday, I wake up and wait an hour before Izayoi comes to ask me if I would walk with her again. And after so many days of working this routine, she's just stopped asking and smiled when I open the door to greet her and starts walking, waiting for me to catch up. And everyday she shows me a new place, like the ballroom, or the garden, or the library, her favorite I suspect because we've been there at least three times. _

_And every day I just wait for her bubbly grin to appear at my door to make every bad thought fly out of my mind."_

"_13th Day of Hazuki (April 1476)_

_I didn't see Izayoi today so I was rather alarmed when she came rather late and came to my apartments, her eyes red and the essence of her tears was emanating off her body. _

"_Why were you late, Izayoi, and why were you crying?" I asked her, not missing the fear starting to radiate off her being. _

"_I wasn't crying."_

"_Don't try lying to me. I can smell when you're lying."_

_She looked flustered there than rather upset. "You mean you can smell when I'm lying or when I was crying or when I'm angry or when I feel a type of emotion?"_

_It was my turn to look flustered; she smelled rather upset and was blushing profusely before she just started laughing again._

_I love how she acts like this, she makes me feel so young, like a small pup. She makes me laugh, a feat not many can do._

_She is a delight to be around, but those feelings of discomfort and pleasure whenever I see her still bother me greatly. I wonder what they could be."_

"_15th of Hazuki (April 1476)_

_Saitoh has returned and has assured me that all the villages that had been massacred are put to right and that a quarter of his army is stationed at the village, keeping away the wolf youkai._

_Now that he has returned I have no reason to stay. I must leave and head back to my castle and relieve Sesshoumaru of his position._

_I can not say that I am pleased to be leaving Saitoh's court. Over the past couple of days, the humans here have been quite hostile and they wish I would leave. But I will miss Izayoi sorely. She was a rare friend, and I never believed that I could find a friend in a human but she is kind and will remain a treasured friend for years to come._

_I plan to leave early tomorrow so today will be my last walk with Izayoi, which is rather sad for me, she doesn't know that I am leaving and I hope she won't know until after I'm gone so I will not have to deal with the tears she will no doubt shed. I don't know, they might be enough to make me stay just so I can stay with her._

_But I have to leave, it is not a matter of choice, more so a matter of duty."_

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Again silence, with more shuffling of papers as Kagome moved to find the next one. But all she could find were short, emotionless entries.

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"_25th of Hazuki (April 1476)_

_So I have found my way back to the castle and found that Sesshoumaru has kept the castle in order and not tried to kill all the humans who live around our palace in the farming land._

_I have decided to let Sesshoumaru take over all the border patrols from now on._

_I do not think I should be doing border patrol, because every time I look and see my garden, flashbacks from my walks with Izayoi fly into my mind and I have an urge to go back._

_All I can say is that I miss her; more then I miss Hana, more than I miss Sesshoumaru, even more than I miss my mother. It seems like a constant ache is attacking my stomach and nothing I do makes it leave._

_Izayoi…"_

"_26th day of Hazuki (April1476)_

_I miss her."_

"_27th of Hazuki (April 1476_

_I miss her."_

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And it went on like that; everyday he would write those three words down, each one so full of depression and sadness that Kagome started crying when she read one. Inuyasha was felt a bit awkward until they stopped. The short entries just stopped after a year.

Over the course of the next four years in Toga's life were just blank entries with just the date.

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"_15th of Minazuki (June 1476)"_

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It was like Toga got out a piece of scroll and wrote down the date but couldn't write anything else. Depression seemed to be getting the better of him and only the occasional war plan was thrown into the piles of scrolls.

Kagome looked up to see Inuyasha's ears sagging and a sad frown placed on his face.

'I'm sorry, Inuyasha.'

'F'eh. Not your fault my father decided not to write a single thing in four years. Kami, he didn't know I might want to know about how he felt when someone he cared about wasn't with him.'

Kagome blinked; Inuyasha was really upset, projecting it by his tone, she was sure he wanted to hear more about his mother and father and his father's sadness seemed to move onto him. He narrowed his eyes at Kagome's pitying gaze, got up and left, leaving Kagome alone in the dark cellar with only the candles.

She sighed and rubbed her temples, now she'd have to deal with this temperamental hanyou for a couple days until they could find the next bunch of scrolls. But the last couple on entries left so many questions, how did Izayoi and Toga meet up again? And where did Inuyasha come into the story? And so many more questions that her head started to whirl.

She got up and blew out the candles before heading out of the room. 'We'll leave it till tomorrow.' she decided, when her headache had gone away and Inuyasha's temper had faded.

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'How is your meal, Kagome?' Fujishima said, looking at her with an inquisitive stare.

'Fine.' She said a nervous smile plastered to her face. She still was a bit edgy around Fujishima and the many court youkai:

Because he was a youkai, she hadn't met that many really kind youkai, except for Kouga, Shippo and Kilala and a few others.

Because when she'd first met him, she'd been knocked out for almost six hours and was awoken by the youkai who had kidnapped her.

Because he kept asking Inuyasha about buying her.

He'd actually come up to her the first day she'd met him and looked her over before offering money to Inuyasha. She was a little more than shocked and Inuyasha was absolutely furious and had seemed ready to strangle Fujishima.

Luckily for Fujishima, he backed off when Inuyasha's eyes started turning red and Kagome grabbed his hand and stuck it on Tetsusaiga. But despite everything Inuyasha had done to make her feel more comfortable she couldn't stop the anxiety Fujishima's lust-filled eyes caused every time he looked at her.

'Excuse me, Fujishima-sama.' She said getting up from her kneeling position opposite Inuyasha who was picking at his ramen. The first time Kagome even bothered to make him some since they came to that castle and he picks at it. 'I want to go to my room now, thank you.'

The youkai lord got up and grabbed Kagome's hands before kissing them gently, causing Kagome to blush and flee the room faster; leaving Inuyasha and Fujishima alone.

Fujishima watched wistfully as Kagome walked out the sliding doors and to her apartments. 'Your woman is really something, Inuyasha-sama.' He said as he sat back down.

Inuyasha glowered at the older youkai, a low growl rumbling from his stomach.

Silence ensued for a moment. 'So,' he started taking a sip of his sake 'how is the reading of your father's scrolls coming along?'

Inuyasha grimaced as he smelt the strong scent of the sake. 'We'll be leaving in two days.' He said, standing 'And I plan to take my father's scrolls with me.'

Fujishima nodded, although frowning, 'I understand, but you are welcome to stay here as long as you…' but he stopped as he noticed Kagome's scent fill the room and turned around to see Kagome by the door looking in.

'Sorry to bother you, but Inuyasha I need you in my room. Now.' The urgency in her last word bothered Inuyasha as her eyes showed excitement.

'Two days, Fujishima-sama.' He said before leaving the room and following Kagome into the hall. She turned around immediately as the door separating them from Fujishima closed. 'Someone's here.' She said, a large grin plastered to her face, lighting her light blue eyes.

'Who?' Inuyasha asked, as Kagome turned around again and started flouncing back to her apartments, almost running. 'Kagome! Who are you talking about?' he yelled, starting to run and catch up with her but by the time he caught up with her she was already in her room.

He opened the sliding door and braced himself on the door as he saw Kagome kneeling with her hands cupped and Inuyasha could hear an infuriating buzzing coming from her cupped hands.

Inuyasha came and flopped down cross-legged beside her as she looked up.

'Guess who just showed up?' she asked, her cheery face starting to bother Inuyasha.

'Should I care?' Inuyasha grumbled crossing his arms.

Kagome frowned. 'You should.' She said grumpily as she opened her hands to see Myouga hopping around angrily.

'Kagome-sama, was that absolutely nescassary?' Myouga said perched on her shoulder after much frantic hopping away from Inuyasha as he was trying to catch him. Kagome sat him, letting Myouga go free to settle on her shoulder Inuyasha grumbled. 'What's so good about Myouga?' he asked furrowing his brows.

Kagome rolled her eyes, though a happy smile still on her face. 'Myouga was your father's retainer, you idiot!' she said, playfully whapping him around the ears 'He was with your father every time he didn't write in those scrolls. I bet he was even there when your father met Izayoi.'

A light dawned in Inuyasha's eyes. 'Oh yeah,' He said scratching the back of his head sheepishly 'I didn't think about that.' He looked up and grabbed Myouga off her shoulder. 'Well?' Inuyasha asked expectedly grasping the small flea not hard enough to squish him but hard enough to keep him there.

Myouga glared at Inuyasha. 'I did not believe that you wanted to hear about your esteemed father ands I believe I told you many stories about your father when you were younger.' He said crossing his first set of arms.

Inuyasha blushed. 'Well, I don't remember all those stories.' he said looking away, 'but I just want to know whether you went with my father to Saitoh's castle or whether you were with him when he didn't write all those years.'

'I was not with your father when he went to Saitoh's castle. He wrote that he did not allow any companions with him, although he should've let me, his faithful retainer, come with him. But when he came back he seemed happier, more in tune with life. Like he'd done something that he was rather proud of. Of course, he never told me anything but I could tell he was feeling something special.' Myouga said, worming his way out of Inuyasha's grasp to get more comfortable.

'Despite being all happy and cheerful like that, it did not last. Barely a month after leaving Saitoh's castle he fell into a depression worse than anything I'd ever seen.' Myouga's tone shifted to a sad, depressed voice, like a true story-teller 'He wouldn't talk to anyone for months, it was around this time that Sesshoumaru went out on his own and started traveling with Jaken, doing the border patrol year round. Your father only seemed to snap out of his silent depression when he sat in his garden and butterflies flew near him. It was rather sad. And during skirmishes and battles he was quiet and collected. He'd matured almost overnight and was just like his father, cold and far too calm to be himself; never lost his temper, never said a harsh word, just silence. It was a large difference from the normal Toga.'

'What was he like in battle?' Inuyasha asked, soaking up the information like a sponge, a quiet light reflecting in his eyes.

'Well,' Myouga blushed and rubbed his head awkwardly 'I didn't really get to see him in real battles; only when he practiced.'

Kagome shook her head as Inuyasha exploded at Myouga.

'YOU WEREN'T THERE! HOW COULD YOU NOT BE THERE?! DID YOU NOT TRUST MY FATHER IN BATTLE?' Inuyasha started screaming his head off at the sheepish Myouga.

Kagome laughed inside, watching Inuyasha get so worked up over something Myouga did so often. 'Can't teach an old flea new tricks; like staying put in battle.' She thought, a giggle erupting from her being.

Inuyasha turned and glared causing Kagome to start giggling again, before settling back into his "Leave-me-the-hell-alone" pose, with his arms crossed, head thrust into the air and eyes closed.

'Anyways, when your father fought, he was a master. He always kept both Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga at his hip; well after he met the Lady Izayoi, anyways.' Myouga said, gesturing towards Tetsusaiga at Inuyasha'a hip.

Inuyasha stared at the sword before grasping the sheath and pulling the sword out, grabbing the solid hilt and gently running his fingers up and down the rusted blade. 'So my father wielded the same sword I do now. And the same sword Sesshoumaru uses.' Inuyasha could almost feel the gentle pulsing that was straining to emit from the sword, like he could feel his fathers hands on the hilt along with his own.

'But I don't understand,' Kagome said, breaking Inuyasha's focus 'InuTaishou was a full youkai. How could he wield Tetsusaiga when Sesshoumaru couldn't?'

Myouga blanched. 'Well, I never really thought about that….' But he was cut off by Inuyasha.

'It was because he cared for my mother,' snapping Kagome out of her reverie 'because he wouldn't let anyone hurt her.' Inuyasha said, surprising both of them.

'Because he had a pure heart, and could care for humans.' Kagome said to herself, starting to understand.

'Much like your actions for Miss Kagome, Inuyasha-sama.'

'What'dya say flea?!'

'Nothing, Master.'

Kagome blushed. Slowly, she started fingering Tetsusaiga, tracing Inuyasha's hands softly on the hilt while he gripped it. Gently, she folded her hands over his and Inuyasha could feel the strong pulse that emitted from the sword as they both grasped it. Like the sword liked feeling both of their hands grasping it.

When all of a sudden, the door burst open and the three looked up to see Aki, his dark eyes flashing as he panted heavily.

'Attack. At. The. Main. Gate.' He panted brokenly 'Fujishima-sama demanded you come.'

Inuyasha immediately ran through the door, brushing past Aki, followed by Kagome, running as fast as she could, but not being able to catch up with the hanyou. All of a sudden she was swooped up into a youkai's arms; she was about to scream when she faced Aki's smirking face.

'Wouldn't want you getting lost in here, would we Kagome-sama?' he asked, bemusedly, despite the serious situation.

She gave him a grateful smile and let him carry her to the main gate.

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'What is it?' Inuyasha asked as he caught up with Fujishima who was standing by the gates anxiously, the full moon shining above them and loud shrieks and a banging coming from somewhere.

'There is a group of youkai attacking the gates.' He said before falling over from exhaustion and being hounded by other youkai. Inuyasha stared at the motionless figure of the youkai lord, and almost immediately jumped to the top of the wall to see a group of youkai bashing at the main gate. He looked closer to see the lithe, slick bodies of dragon youkai.

'Just like Ryuukossei; like the thing that killed my father.' Inuyasha thought, and he pulled out Tetsusaiga and let it pulse once, causing the youkai at the gates to stop and stare in his direction. He caught of flash of movement behind him and saw Kagome jump down from Aki's arms, staring up at his silent frame.

The instant he looked at her, his sword transformed into the formidable blade it was. Inuyasha stared at it for a moment before shifting his gaze to the youkai that were starting to move towards him.

Although Kagome was far enough away that he couldn't hear her, but she stared at his agile shape bent over on the wall of the gate, his eyes shifting to meet her gaze and she shivered as the coldest eyes she'd ever seen him give bored into her own sapphire eyes, making her take a step back by the intensity in his amber eyes.

'They're so much like Sesshoumaru's eyes.' Kagome thought, stunning herself for a second as she saw the similarities between the two brothers for what seemed like the first time. Both their eyes were so cold and empty, like whenever Sesshoumaru saw Inuyasha, and Inuyasha was staring at the demons beyond the gates, his distant eyes scanning them. 'Something that they think killed something close to them, that's what makes them see things like this.'

'Aki, What kind of demons are attacking the gates?' she asked, turning to the bat behind her.

'Dragon youkai, Kagome-sama.' he said 'They've been bothering us for years now, but this has been the most dangerous assault so far.'

'Oh.' Kagome said 'Ryuukossei!' she thought as she turned back to gaze at the motionless figure of Inuyasha, still perched on the gate.

Inuyasha still glared at the youkai who had stopped and were staring at them, he could start to see the wind scar that was emanating from the youkai waiting at the gate. He raised his sword in the direction of the youkai and shut his eyes.

This seemed to enrage the youkai because all of a sudden they started forward to attack, steadily moving faster towards the still figure situated on the wall.

Kagome stared in horror as they moved towards Inuyasha, moving in for the kill. Everyone around her was motionless, staring at the unmoving figure, and her eyes widened as the youkai were almost upon her hanyou.

All of a sudden Inuyasha's eyes snapped open, staring into the wild eyes of the youkai. 'BAKURYUUHA!' he screamed, swinging his sword.

And he let loose.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tales of an InuTaishou**

**BellaDiva16**

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

_Italics_: indicate journal entries

* * *

'Breathe in…' 

'Breathe out…' she thought. The night still surrounding her being as she pulled her sleeping bag closer to her body, she shivered although having the heavy warmth on her body.

Kagome looked at the now sleeping Inuyasha with an unease she'd never known before. It was frightening to see what he'd done to those dragon youkai, but despite the fact that they would've ripped her apart if they'd gotten the chance, she felt almost an amount of underlying pity for them, seeing the way their bodies showered down in mutilated pieces. And the way Inuyasha just stood there with such a cold aura, practically turning everything he stared at to stone. Kagome couldn't even stare into his eyes when he approached her afterwards.

She could barely keep her eyes shut, images of that brutal murder flowing behind her closed eyes. And Inuyasha could barely keep his eyes open, falling asleep faster than her, a change in the usual. And Inuyasha was sleeping more peacefully than she'd ever seen a strange look of contentment alight on his slack face. But even that innocent expression still frightened her. After what she'd seen him do, she wasn't sure she'd ever feel so safe.

'All in one attack.' Was the only thought running through her still anxious mind.

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Black.

All he could see was a warm black. Nothing heard and nothing seen, to say the least he was getting little worried until a warm soothing voice broke through the calm.

'He is beautiful.'

'Yes, he is. As are you, love. I am glad you are safe.'

'Well, childbirth is painful, InuTaishou. Be grateful you do not have to worry about it.'

Such pacifying voices, and he almost felt himself fall asleep again with a heavy warmth on top of him, when he felt himself being picked up. He breathed in such a warm, memorable scent that made him yawn.

'He's so small, and look! He's yawning.'

He opened his eyes wide to see two massive figures staring down at him, him being grasped in the strong arms of his father and his mother standing on the other side. A happy grin was on his father's face, making his eyes gleam with a look of love, only seen in the presence of his small family.

'My son, Inuyasha.' He whispered before Inuyasha fell asleep again.

And many years later, in a time past that happiness, the adult hanyou woke up.

Inuyasha sat up, his calloused hands finding his eyes, trying to keep the fading memory from altogether leaving his mind. His father's smile, his mothers loving glance, he didn't want to lose that again. He sniffed, their warm memorable scent still lingering in his nostrils and he sat there for a moment just keeping that memory for an instant.

He looked up, sniffing again, sensing something missing from the room. Inuyasha scanned the room, finding the door open and Kagome's scent barely in the room, her sleeping bag mussed up but empty.

He got up from his position on the futon and moved out of the room to find the wench sitting there, her eyes shut, with a ring of darkness surrounding them, and her head leaning back. He knelt in front of her, his face parallel with hers.

She breathed deep and opened her eyes wide, finding two big amber eyes staring back at her.

'AHHHHHHHHHHH! Sit!'

'Argh!'

Kagome tightened up against the wall, pulling her knees into her body even more. It wasn't her fault, he scared the hell out of her and she had every right to sit him there and then.

Well, if the same scenario had happened yesterday, she doubted she would've sat him.

Inuyasha was groaning and just starting to pull himself off the floor when Kagome got up and started running down the hall.

'Oh no you don't.' he said as he finally pulled himself against the last nudges of power pulling him down and grabbed Kagome from fleeing. 'What is wrong with you? Why are you running?'

She averted her eyes, every time she looked at him seeing the glimpse of the cold demon that'd killed the youkai, and whimpered just to make him let go. But his grip on her arms was still there, a questioning expression on his face.

'She's scared of me. I've never seen her scared of me before.' Inuyasha thought, racing through his mind trying to find the cause of such distress. 'Oh…' he thought remembering the way she'd averted her eyes yesterday night, the same way she was now.

'Kagome?' he asked, slightly cocking her head upwards so their eyes met her eyes with an extra glimmer and his wide with uncertainty. 'I'm sorry. It wasn't supposed to be like that. I let my anger get the better of me and I promise it won't happen again.'

Her mouth opened a little, as he apologized for everything that had scared her the night before. She sniffed, not able to hold tears back any longer as she pulled him into an embrace, allowing all the weariness and anxiety to finally take a toll on her.

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"_16th day of Yayoi (November 1477)"_

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"_30th day of Satsuki (December 1477)"_

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Sure, they'd found more of the scrolls, but there wasn't much different about them. The same old depression, the same blank entries, nothing changed. But Inuyasha was taking it scarily well, despite his actions beforehand. Of course, scaring Kagome was something Inuyasha didn't want to do, hating the way she stared at him at those moments.

And Myouga had started searching through each of the scrolls in the room individually, trying to find the last batch of scrolls because Myouga knew that InuTaishou wrote more than that afterwards his years of depression, estimating the days InuTaishou spent locked up in his scroll room to weeks at a time but writing nothing.

She rubbed her eyes, still tired from a night of unrest, but she couldn't deny the satisfaction of the new scrolls and Inuyasha had been rather sweet with her letting her sleep on his lap again.

But he still pretended that nothing had happened.

And now as she read over and over again the same words of idiotic demoralization and the lack of sleep she had attained, she was getting a little annoyed.

Five minutes later, she snapped.

'I am so sick of this.' Kagome yelled, causing Inuyasha's head to snap up with such force that any human would've had whiplash.

'If I have to read another one of those stupid wastes of paper, I am going to strangle myself.' She yelled pointing at the still massive pile of scrolls, despite reading for over an hour 'I am sick of this room and that stupid candle that was have to replace every hour, and I am sick of Myouga sucking my neck off.'

Inuyasha reached up and slapped the flea off the agitated girls neck, causing the girl to glare at him with such ice that Inuyasha could've sworn Sesshoumaru was staring at him.

Myouga, after having re-inflated, started speaking.

'My apologies, Kagome-sama, but I found it and you were promptly yelling at Inuyasha-sama and obviously occupied.' he said starting to bounce up and down on Inuyasha's hand eagerly, before flying off to avoid the hand that was about to smack down.

'How rude!' he muttered before jumping off and finding another group scrolls underneath a large stack of war documents.

As Kagome started reading, her face contorted into a look of confusion that turned to bitter annoyance, as she read the words.

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"_12th day of Shiwasu (December 1478)_

_She's here."_

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'Great!' Kagome said, flinging the scroll to the table, 'More wastes of time and good paper.'

Inuyasha picked up the scroll, and turned it around, showing her the amount of writing on the backside, causing Kagome to blush and snatch the scroll form his hands.

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"_12th day of Shiwasu (December 1480)_

_I can not believe it. She's here, under this very roof along with me again. And I am so happy that I could do anything now, but now all I want to do is be near her, hear her breathing, so I know she's alive and not just a figment of my mind._

_She came yesterday, near to the fall of the sun, while I was still in here, for the millionth time trying to sum up words that I was certain would never come. But then I could hear the commotion set up in the main hall, and although brief snatches of conversation could only be heard, I heard a female voice whisper my name._

_Now I don't know why, but if it was any other voice, I would've stayed where I was, sitting here, trying to find words to make my emotions alive. But I got up. And I went down to the main hall, slipping past the garden for the first time._

_Opening the massive doors of the hall, I was more than ready to dismiss anyone making the noise. _

_Inside was the lone mate of the Lord of the Eastern lands, the lady Ai, the sister of my early mate, Hana. Although her sister was a swan youkai, she is a spider youkai, I don't know the connection but I have to admit a concubine would be an appropriate connection. Her mate had died mysteriously in the past year, leaving her alone with rule of the land that he inhabited. Although it should have gone to her son, he died mysteriously along with his father leaving no suitable heirs and demons willing to take over the lands._

_I have no doubt in my mind that she was the one who mastered the deaths of both her mate and her pup._

_But behind her was a dozen demon handmaids, well I thought they were demon at first._

"_InuTaishou-sama' she said, extending her head in the slightest, her pure black hair pinned up with chopsticks and her eyes glinting with a horrible maliciousness._

_I suppressed a shudder, as she licked her lips, and greeted her in the same fashion, but not bothering to extend any signs of respect for her. She has made moments of my years of ruling these lands not worth remembering and her disrespect for the elders is hard to stomach. And her disregard for my mother finalizes my feelings. _

'_I must demand a presence with your audience earlier tomorrow morning, it is of utmost importance.' she said. _

_I nodded and bade her to leave, instructing Aki, the bat youkai who helped me during the rebellion when I first met Izayoi, to lead them to a room on the other side of the castle, while I was on the opposite side. I wanted to be as far away from her as possible._

_And she left just as suddenly as she came, but as her handmaidens followed her out, one stayed behind._

_And then I saw her._

_And everything, honestly everything stopped._

_And all I could see was her in that light pink kimono, with beautiful butterflies patterning the bottom that I think would only look wonderful on her. And her eyes were still that beautiful purple color, and her hair was still raven black, and her smile still made me tremble. And her beauty seemed to only enhance with the years that I haven't seen her._

'_InuTaishou-sama, I am very pleased to see you again.' she said, bowing low, not for the first time prostrating herself at my feet. _

_I was still in shock, I had not seen her for years and here was the human girl, daughter of an influential Daimyo, now a hand maiden to the mistress of the Eastern land._

_She looked uncomfortable. 'Oh, I must apologize for my rudeness.' she said, her head still bowed 'I am Izayoi, the daughter of the former Daimyo. A few years past, you came to the court of my father's and reprimanded him of his treatment of the villagers.'_

'_I know who you are, Lady Izayoi.' I said, not recognizing my voice. She looked up and smiled, a blush fluttering on her cheeks, causing my mind to ache._

_And then she shaded her eyes, their purple hue growing even lighter as they watered. And or the first time since I met her, I realized how young she really was. Barely younger than twenty winters. And she looked ever so much smaller when she was huddled on the floor like that._

_Why I was thinking of such trivial things at the time, I will never know, but my mind was moving at a hundred paces a second, and all I could do was stare at her._

_Izayoi looked at me, before bowing her head once again and leaving._

_Leaving me still standing there, too far gone to complain."_

_0_

"_13th day of Shiwasu (December 1480)_

_Is it strange that wherever I go in my household, I find Izayoi or I can smell her scent?_

_That may be on account of me following her scent._

_But at the end of the day, it was not as bad as I thought it might be. _

_Izayoi found me in here just as I was about to start writing this and she dropped this large scroll write in my lap, and by the time I looked up she was at the door again about to leave._

_Here is the scroll she wrote:_

"_Shortly after you left, my father, although still rather afraid of your interference again, sought to find an alliance with another Daimyo to try and defeat you.'_

_I snorted with amusement, my happiness already starting to come back, getting an image of the stocky human who'd tried to overcome me. She smiled, a small titter escaped from her lips. _

'_Of course, he didn't have much luck. My father had always been horrid negotiator, but then he found another means to get alliances. Me._

_I am far past my marriage date, but that is because my father has never bothered to find a marriage proposal for me, and has always taken the ones I have received with mere disregard. _

_So when he offered me for an alliance, he had many takers. Including the Lord of the Eastern Lands. However, my father didn't want to take that offer at all, not having good experience with demon Lords. Can you understand why?_

_And of course, that was where the trouble started._

_When my father declined the offer, the Eastern Lord got angry. And killed my father._

_Do not be sympathetic. He was a horrid human, and I am not proud to be related to him. But I must admit he was a better person than that lady who owns me now._

_Afterwards, he brought me to his large dark castle in his lands and stuck me in the dungeons for a few days. The next time I got out was by the handmaidens of the Eastern Lord's mate. He'd died earlier apparently, but I was dazed with hunger. And she made me her hand maiden. For the last year I have been her servant, slave if you will. And she bade me come here to you with her and her assembly of maids. _

_I knew you were a lord, but I didn't know which district you ruled over. All the Lords came to mourn, but I never saw you and I lost hope that I would be alright._

_But now, I've found you again._

_And if I am right and you have missed me just as much as I have missed you, then you will be as happy as I am to see you."_

_It is strange, I have faced some of the fiercest demons in centuries and now feel a bit of fear, but a small human girl can make my voice weak and my head spin._

_Strange. But if I really think about it, it seems so proper."_

_0_

"_20 the day of Shiwasu (December 1480)_

_This day did not turn out as well as the last few have. _

_The day after seeing Izayoi again, I got to speak to her, a few words and meeting in the garden briefly._

_The next day, I was able to speak with her a little more._

_By the third day, I was able to speak to her and we were able to walk again in the garden, just like the last time we did. She explained her position a bit more thoroughly. And I can say I smiled properly for the first time in years when I was around her._

_But I should have known that it would be too hard to keep it from Ai's spies for long._

_First, Ai came to me two days after her arrival and explained her reason for being here._

'_An alliance is all I want.' she said 'It will only make it harder for the Southern and Northern lands to overcome us. And the humans in my land are quite a nuisance and I would not mind getting them off my hands.'_

_It amused me that she would think that, our territories being opposite each other. But I tried to keep that fact away from her and declined her offer of an arranged marriage._

_And yet she still did not leave, every day trying to convince me that this alliance would be perfect, every day bothering me more and more._

_And then she saw me with Izayoi one day, which was a costly mistake._

_She came to me yesterday, bringing with her only Izayoi._

'_InuTaishou-sama. Please allow me to once again ask for your assistance in the current matter at hand.' She said, not bothering showing any sign of respect and practically knocked down my grand hall doors._

'_I see nothing wrong with my opinion, Lady Ai. It is rather unethical to be worrying about an alliance between opposite territories. Our territories do not even overlap at any rate so it would leave one territory with no rule.' I replied._

'_You're outlook is unreasonable, InuTaishou. I do not like being reprimanded by a Lord half my age.' At this point, I knew she was getting frustrated but she would not leave._

'_But that is not my problem,' she said, a malicious look coming into her eyes as she turned and looked at Izayoi who was staring at the ground. My stomach churned with anxiety. She would not hurt Izayoi, I would make sure of it. Ai pulled the chopsticks from her hair and flung them to the floor._

'_Human, get them.' she said harshly, calling forth Izayoi, her eyes widening with nervousness. Izayoi walked over to where the chopsticks lay, almost broken, and picked them up gently, bringing them back to the angered youkai woman._

_Ai glared at her and slapped her not bothering to pull in her claws and leaving a scratch on her cheek. Izayoi tried not to flinch, but failed when the lady slapped her again across the other cheek._

_Well, I am not really sure if Ai slapped her again, because all I could see was red. I could barely hold it._

_She pulled Izayoi up by the collar of her ragged kimono, obviously an old one and showed her to me. 'This wench has been disrespectful ever since I acquired her a year ago.' She shook her like a doll, making Izayoi's head shake unnaturally before she tossed her to the floor, making Izayoi's mouth open in a silent cry of pain and she was shaking with such an intensity it was like Ai was still shaking her._

_I was struggling to keep myself in check, not wanting to hurt Izayoi._

_Ai glared at me with such a malevolent smile, if I was not at risk of turning into a demon, I would have cowered._

'_What should I do with her, oh Powerful InuTaishou-sama?' _

'_Touch her again and you will not live to take another breath.' Was all I could say as I pulled the traces of power to create my light whip and swung at her. She caught it and pulled it out of my grasp, making it disintegrate. _

_Ai sent a quiver of vibration towards Izayoi's crumpled form, making her face clench and her body tense. I moved towards her, cradling her still shaking form in my arms._

'_Poor little InuTaishou.' Ai said, her eyes glinting, 'Can not stand seeing a broken human girl being tossed around?'_

_My claws extended and my fangs were bared and I growled at her, which only seemed to please her. _

'_You know Taishou, love is a sign of weakness.' Her eyes narrowed 'but loving a human, that is just pitiful.' _

_And then I snapped, my whole world turning a shade of red so dark it was almost black_

_Ai is gone, that I know for sure. Izaoyi was huddled in the corner of the room, her eyes blank and hollow, unseeing as she stared at me. When I moved towards her she cringed away from me, her eyes shut and her body curled even more towards herself._

_That Izayoi was brought into this affair, I will be sorry for a long time._

_0_

"_25th day of Shiwasu (December 1480)_

_It's settled; she is staying her at least for another few months. I do not want her to leave and eagerly settles her in; eagerly meaning asking her politely over and over again._

_She accepted, although quite nervously, barely looking at me. I apologized but I know she is still quite tense around me because of the attack that happened._

_But also I know Izayoi is nervous about staying here, half the inhabitants of the castle are human hating youkai, but there are some that tolerate her presence well enough. And I have ensured her safety for now, boding a death wish to anyone that touch her in a harmful way._

_I am distressed that she is scared of me like that. Izayoi had never been afraid of me like that, but if I move close to her, she is worried I will attack her. Which I will never do._

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"_30th day of Shiwasu (December 1480)_

_Five days of her anxiety all over my household. I am not sure how long I can last with that._

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"_7th day of Mutsuki (January 1481)_

_Every day I wake up, I want to see her. And when I do see her, I never want her to leave._

_I love being with her and I do not want her to leave. But her scared manner reminds me of a flight deer, and I still have not had a change to talk to her about it._

_But I am scared for her safety even more than ever. I am having demons from all over my lands come and inquire about the human living in the castle now. _

_And some of them have been rather impertinent about their actions. They all seem to think that I have found a new mate, and more than half are upset about her human blood." _

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And so it went. Kagome was reading these scrolls, and although InuTaishou did not admit it at first, he was in love with Izayoi and falling even more and more in love with her everyday. And everyday, he waited for the type of freedom he had with her before showing his demon side to her.

Inuyasha couldn't be happier though, although upset about his parent's recent problems, he was ecstatic that they were back together again.

He was getting a kick out of every word, loving how real his parent's relationship was starting to be.

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"_15th day of Mutsuki (January 1481)_

_Here is how it went:_

_Izayoi was sitting in the garden, her legs folded beneath her as she stared at the fall of the sun and the rise of the moon. It took so much of my will to go and sit down next to her. Despite being almost two centuries older than her, she still causes my voice to shake. _

_She continued looking at the crimson sun as I sat at the tree opposite her and she sighed before starting to speak._

'_It is so sad is it not?' she said quietly 'The moon kills the sun, its brother so it can rise, only to be killed the next morning by its own flesh and blood.' Izayoi's eyes were shaded and cold._

_I looked at the ground, only to see her hand caressing circles into the now damp grass. If Izayoi looked beautiful in the day, she looked even more beautiful at night, with the sun's dying rays making her face glow and the newly appearing stars making her violet eyes sparkle. It was a magnificent thing to see._

'_You killed her you know.'_

_I looked up; ready to argue my reasons but she stopped me with a small smile. _

'_I have to apologize for the way I was treating you. You were only protecting me.' She looked away 'And I got scared.'_

'_For the first time, I realized that you were not human. You could kill someone without having to worry about the consequences. You were different than me. And that makes everything so much more difficult.'_

_Izayoi moved closer to me, sitting on her knees in front of me, her eyes on mine._

'_I hope you can accept that, I have, although begrudgingly. I hope we can still be friends.' She said, purple eyes light with worry._

_I regarded her calmly, despite my harshly beating heart. 'Friends in my life are usually partners or people who serve me.' I said, pulling my eyes away from hers, as much as it pained me._

_Her face fell. 'Those are not friends. Those are alliances and servants; I want to be your friend.' She said not unkindly but harsh enough to make me flinch inside._

_I looked at her. 'Friends then?' _

_Izayoi smiled 'Friends.' Then she fell back on her knees, still smiling at me. When she sheepishly evaded her eyes, as I still watched her. _

'_I shall head back to my quarters then.' Izayoi said, brushing off her knees and getting up, the stars still reflected in her eyes. And she left._

_A minute later, she came back and slumped down beside me and kissed my cheek, just below the lines decorating its frame. My eyes widened and she smiled at me, cupping my cheek with a tenderness. 'Thank you.' She whispered into my ear._

_And I can say that I fell in love with her for a second time today. _

_0_

"_5th day of Kisaragi (February1481)_

_There is a demon here tonight who claims can make me new swords, Totosai. I think he can do it and I have welcomed him here to stay as long as he wants. And Izayoi has taken a liking to him so I can hardly complain. _

_He is making me my new swords now as I write. But he had to pry my two fangs from my mouth, without my will. Which was rather an unwanted event, but it made Izayoi laugh rather hard, and I like her when she laughs._

_If the results are as good as Totosai claims they will be, I will be impressed._

_Izayoi teased me about the loss of my fangs but I do not mind, but if any other being tried to do that their death would be inevitable. It is amazing what one little human can do to me. She makes me feel so honest and I never have to lie to her._

_Izayoi seemed rather distracted today, from what I do not know, but I know something is bothering her. I just do not know what."_

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"_24th day of Kisaragi (February1481)_

_The day started well, but ended the opposite._

_I was walking with Izayoi again, just like I have been for the last amount of months and she was talking avidly about the discovery of my library._

'…_And then I turned into this room and I saw this door in the wall that I am sure was never there before.' She said with a smile lighting her face, her eyes sparkling 'All of a sudden this door just opened to…'_

_And she stopped. Everything in her stopped, I could hear her breathing cease. I turned around and looked at her, starting to smell the stark scent of her fear._

'_Izayoi?' I asked, my voice barely trembling as her hand gripped her stomach and her eyes widened, her smile replaced with a pain filled grimace. Her face twisted again and her hand came to grip the spot of her neck with a surprising amount of force. And then she just fell down, her body convulsing and her head flopping back and forth._

_I can honestly say, I have never been more worried._

_I had to subdue her into unconsciousness before her body would stop shaking, and all I could do was go and find Myouga, who was sucking off a bull youkai in the main hall, to tell me what was wrong with her._

_And it took Myouga to point out the pulsing spider mark underneath her hand, and if I smell it I can smell the Ai's Miasma. I did not think it was true that she bound her servants to that kind of fate with a swipe of her claws and a sting of her miasma in their bloodstream._

_Myouga tells me there is nothing that can be done._

_I can not believe that. I will save her if it takes my life. I lost her once and I will not lose her again."_

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Kagome shivered as she continued to read, almost able to hear the harsh growl in the last statement.

_0_

"_26th of Kisaragi (February 1481)_

_Izayoi is doing…No. No I will not allow it."_

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_0_

'What happened?' Kagome asked desperately as she shifted through the next couple of scrolls not finding a follow-up. Inuyasha pulled one out of the stack, causing many to fall onto the floor but finding the one. Kagome snatched it out of his clawed hands

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"_27th day of Kisaragi (February 1481)_

_She is alright. She is alright. I have to keep saying that over and over again so I know it is true. I was so scared. I have never felt so lost in my life. _

_She died, her mouth contorted in pain and clasping my hand and when it went limp my life seemed over. I screamed so harshly my voice rasped painfully._

_For some strange reason, my instincts told me to start searching for Totosai, the sword maker. I went for him and found him in the armory, working on my swords and I confronted him, roaring into his face how I needed my swords. _

_He tried to lecture me into authority but as soon as I smelt my sword I grabbed one of them and started running for the room Izayoi was in. _

_I do not know what happened to me, it was like I was possessed and I could not stop myself from raising the sword above her crushed form and tried to knock away the beasts climbing over her body._

_As I swung the sword down, I could see the little bug-eyed creatures falling apart. And the redness faded just as Izayoi took her first breath from the grave._

_My eyes almost started to water as I collapsed top the ground, so weary all of a sudden and I started to call her name as her chest moved up and down faster and faster._

'_InuTaishou?' she whimpered._

_Her eyes were wide open now and she was staring at the ceiling with such an amount of confusion._

'_Izayoi?' I rasped, my voice barely alive as I pulled my self towards her, looking down at her. _

'_Kami.' She whimpered as she started to cry and she pulled herself against my chest, sobs wracking her small frame._

_I comforted her as best I could before she started kissing me._

_And I made her my mate, trying to ease the horrible pain she was feeling. After so many long years of waiting, this seems like the best thing I can do, for myself and for her."_

_0_

"_30th day of Kisaragi (1481)_

_Izayoi heard me out today and she has agreed to stay as my mate._

'_I am sorry I took advantage of you.' I said, remorse running through my very veins. She stared at me with less anger than in the last few days._

_Her reply made my life so much more fulfilling._

'_InuTaishou,' she whispered, holding my face between her hands 'when I asked if I could be your friend, that was never what I wanted.' Izayoi bestowed a chaste kiss on my lips and smiled at me it warmed my body. 'I wanted this. I always have and always will.'_

_I could not have chosen better."_

_0_

"_5th day of Yayoi (February 1481)_

_My body aches with the pleasure that Izayoi gives me every night. She is an amazing being that makes everything alright. It is such a wonder how she is able to keep me so astounded by her. _

_I love her more and more every moment, when she smiles at me, when she kisses me, when she opens up her arms at night to me. _

_I practically worship her, day and night. And I never fail to watch the moon rise with her at my side._

_She is my life now."_

_0_

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Inuyasha smiled a quiet smile of reverence for his parents as Kagome kept reading. Kagome was starting to get uneasy, because Inuyasha was coming soon, and then it wouldn't end as well as it was going.

_0_

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"_17th day of Yayoi (February 1481)_

_I have not told her yet; I am far too excited and scared for her reaction._

_Yes, I took her once while she was in heat and I did not bother worry about the consequences until now._

_Izayoi is pregnant. _

_I was so delighted at first, but I have never thought about it. When our child is born, it will be a half-blood; a hanyou, a human and a demon in one being, with both benefits and both evils. I am scared for my child because with my dog blood in their veins, they will have a demon side incomparable to many, they could be stronger than any normal youkai. _

_But the child will be hated everywhere it goes, it will have nothing. Neither human, neither demon, they will be an outcast. It pains me to think that I have condemned my blood to that kind of bigotry. I am ashamed._

_But as long as I am breathing, my child will be treated with the same care and youkai child would be treated. I might have lost Sesshoumaru, but I will not lose again."_

_0_

"_4th day of Satsuki (May 1481)_

_Sesshoumaru is here and today is the first time I have ever seen him lose the façade that has hid his face since he was young._

'_You choose a human mate, even when the lady of the Eastern lands comes and asks for an alliance you pick a human girl over her.' Sesshoumaru growled at me, his hackles rising._

'_I choose my own mate. And she is my choice. Accept it or you will not be welcome in this household, son' I said, turning away._

'_The Eastern lands have been disbanded and the Northern Lands are in an uproar' Sesshoumaru said, now standing in front of me his arm flung out. 'The leaders believe you are going soft and the Neko tribe there is coming to take over.'_

_I smirked. 'They have tried that bit before, that slaughter shall not come again.' _

_As I started to walk out Sesshoumaru started talking again. 'You are risking the life of your territory for a simple fuck with a human girl two hundred years younger than you. It is a weakness, Chichi-ue and they will use it.'_

_I slammed him into the wall, his boa wrapped around his neck as I held him up, my other hand holding Tetsusaiga, the other sword Totosai made for me. _

'_She is mine,' I growled, pushing his throat even higher 'they will not find a way to exploit her.'_

_I dropped him, letting him fall hard. Sesshoumaru glared at me before pulling himself off the floor. _

'_It will happen, be sure of it.' He said just before he left. _

_I was still shaking with anger as Izayoi looked on with sadness, and she walked up next to me, threading her hand into mine._

'_That was your son?' she asked, still staring at the open door. I nodded, squeezing her hand as she clasped back. 'I am sorry.' She said. 'Do not be.' I said staring at her 'If he can not accept it, that will be his fault.'_

_Izayoia kissed the lines on my face and whispered in my ear. 'I am with child.'_

_I nodded again, before kissing her atop her forehead. 'I know' I whispered back to her, staring at her open face tenderly._

_I know this will not be the end of our troubles."_

_O_

"_16th day of Minazuki (June 1481)_

_There is a new demon in my household today. It is not Nekos from the North. But the Southern Lord with his tribe leaders who are giving me the support that will help me make the Nekos back down. They have no alliances but I have them. _

_Fujishima, the Lord of the lands has taken a liking to Izayoi and asked me numerous times for her purchase, which did not go well approved by me._

_But he is respectful enough and a good alliance._

_I do not have to worry about the Nekos any longer though." _

_0 _

"_14th day of Fumizuki (July 1481)_

_Dragon youkai are causing trouble in the North of my territory. All I plan to take are Tenseiga and Tetsusaiga, the swords Totosai and Bokuseno made for me so many months ago. He proved such a good swords master that I welcomed him to stay here for as long as he wanted. I hope he will keep Izayoi company._

_As much as it pains me, I must leave Izayoi here because she is getting bigger with the oncoming pregnancy. _

_She looks even more beautiful when I know she is carrying my child. I feel like I could take an image of her and spin it into a beautiful portrait. Izayoi is that beautiful."_

_0_

"_6th day of Hazuki (August 1481)_

_The dragon youkai are being led by a dragon called Ryuukotsusei, a large dragon youkai who presumably ate the rest of his comrades. I need not have gone out that far, because he came to me, barely a league away from the castle. _

_But he got away before I could unleash the Wind Scar upon him. I have no idea how Totosai did it, but he invoked a type of essence that emanates from the very sword that can collide with the youki of a youkai a when they meet, if I push the sword into the spot where the winds meet, the blast can kill one hundred demons at a time. _

_Totosai was able to make a sword that can save a hundred lives and a sword that can kill a hundred lives. Amazing._

_Izayoi was happy to have me back so quick and I was glad as well, not wanting to be gone from her for long. _

_But that dragon will not be gone for long. _

_0_

"_8th day of Hazuki (August 1481)_

_I try and spend as much time as I can with Izayoi. It is hard though, as the numerous number of dragon youkai are constantly barraging the gates. The birth of her son will be soon, I can tell. But I am concerned for Izayoi's safety, hanyou births are supposed to be dangerous. Izayoi is strong, but will she be able to birth a hanyou child with the demon blood of a warlord. _

_It is amazing, but whenever I am with her and the child and I lay my hands on Izayoi's womb, the baby ceases it's moving. Izayoi is forever amazed at the bond between a youkai child and their parents. I hope Izayoi will be alright._

_A demon visited today, I believe from the mainland but he did not say. He said his name was Setsuna Takenmaru and he was upset about my mating with Izayoi._

_It seems everyone is now a days._

'_InuTaishou-sama.' He said, his eyes glistening. He reminded me of Ai which perturbed me greatly._

'_State your case or leave.' I was anxious to go find Izayoi. I had not seen her in hours._

'_You have mated with a human.' Takenmaru said, his face wrinkling in disgust. _

'_It is my decision who I decide to make my mate, demon. It is not a concern of yours.' I growled, already heeding the warnings of a fight. And I wanted this thing out my household before Izayoi got there, because I could smell her coming down the hall._

'_You would believe that a demon lord would have higher expectation than that.' Takenmaru said, starting to circle me maliciously. I was disliking this demon more and more._

'_My mate is higher than any other I could have chosen. Step down inferior. Do not push this matter. You are not of these lands and have no right to make a protest.' I said, invoking my rights as a Lord. _

_Izayoi was now in the room and Takenmaru was staring at her. 'Well, I can see why you wanted her.' He stared at me with an awful grin on his face 'She looks like a good fuck.'_

_He slammed into the wall opposite me, my eyes turning crimson already and I could hear Izayoi's frantic calls of help. I started to calm down until I saw the demon still staring at her._

'_You will not come into my household, disrespect me and my mate and get away with it.' I snarled raising him up off the floor and flinging him outside the door. I could barely stop myself before I turned demon and became the massive dog again, grabbing Takenmaru's kimono and hurling him over the gates._

_He tried to attack me and Izayoi again, but I commanded him from the castle as soon he raised his arm. And when he would not leave, I threw him out forcefully, not bothering to hold in my claws. He swore his revenge on my disgraced heritage._

_Izayoi seems to find it amusing when I am upset. She says I growl like a kitten, but she also says I purr like a kitten as well._

_But that demon's threat is bothering me, I am even more worried for Izayoi's safety._

_Everyone is upset about this, and most everyone has heard of the child she bears._

_I knew the consequences of my actions when I took her as my mate, and I still did it, selfishly. I am sorry for every grievance I have caused with those actions, but in all my life, I have never been so happy than I am with her. _

_I do not know how much longer we will have together and I do not want to lose her. I want to be with her all the time, watch her every breath. I want to be able to protect her for all eternity. But if the demons barraging the gate everyday are a sign, I am not sure that will happen._

_0_

"_16th day of Hazuki (August 1481)_

_My son is born. Inuyasha; my flesh and blood is alive. Izayoi is sleeping at the moment, the little boy cradled against her chest. They make a wonderful couple; Izayoi with her jet black hair, and Inuyasha, with his small dog ears and golden eyes. He is strong already and I am so pleased that I have another son._

_But ever since yesterday, Ryuukotsusei has been banging at the gates and I can not hold off the confrontation any longer and a demon named Setsuna Takenmaru has been complaining about my recent mating with a human. He wants his revenge and I have placed both Myouga and Totosai to take care of my family. While I want to stay with my newborn child and my mate longer, I must protect them from these two. _

_Ryuukotsusei has taken down three dozen more of my allies and his slaughter will end. But I am certain that he is not alone is a plot against me._

_Izayoi, please be safe." _

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Inuyasha watched as Kagome swiftly skimmed over the next entry almost at the bottom of the pile before her eyes widened and she stared at Inuyasha with such sympathy he flinched.

'Inuyasha,' she said slowly, her eyes watering 'I'm not sure you want to read this.'

'Read it. I want to know both the good and the bad. I've heard the good, now for the bad.' Inuyasha growled, his eyes clenched shut and his teeth grinding together.

Kagome looked at the scroll again, before whispering a quick apology.

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"_17th day Hazuki (August 1481)_

_She is gone. Izayoi and Inuyasha are gone. They have been taken, by him._

_Setsuna Takenmaru has taken Izayoi and Inuyasha; kidnapped them both and taken them to his castle. That despicable bastard, he will not get away with this._

_I am hurt, wounded badly by the fight I had with Ryuukotsusei. I am far worse damaged but I managed to seal him. _

_Sesshoumaru came and greeted me just afterwards the battle. I apologized to him but he dismissed it. He shows so much respect for me, even with the recent difficulties we have had. I am sorry but I hope he will accept Izayoi as the mother he never had._

_Myouga and Totosai were here to greet me when I returned and I almost collapsed onto myself when I learned what happened. I will not lose them again, and this Setsuna is dangerous, I know. He flattened almost the entire east wing of my household with one swipe. And even though I do not know much about him, I know he hates me with such a vengeance that he will kill them both. And I have to stop him._

_Death seems inevitable now, only a matter of time before I cross over to the next life. I feel weary, I do not even know why I am writing this while Izayoi and Inuyasha are still in that bastard's clutches. But I have a feeling that they will be safe, and I want them to know how much I love them both._

_When I first mated with Izayoi, I pledged her my heart, my body, my soul, my life. And I still can give that to her._

_Dying for Izayoi wouldn't be that horrible though."_

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Kagome's eyes watered to the point of blurriness but she opened her eyes wide and continued to read the most painful moment in the great InuTaishou long life of harshness and pain. And love.

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"_If I don't do this I put the only person I love in danger. And I can't risk that; because without Izayoi, I am nothing. She is my reason for living and as much as I care for her and she loves me back, if I can't find the strength inside of me to give my life up for her, and all of them, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, than I am not worthy of her. And now, more than ever, she means more to me than ever before, and I can't let that slip away from me._

_All I can ever do is love her. And hope she understands how much I will always love her. And for all of time, I know that is what I will always do._

_And if I don't come back after this, then all I can do is hope she finds these papers and knows how much I do care._

_I love you, Izayoi, more than anything. And I hope you feel the same."_

_0_

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And then a tear print, still fresh and wet lingered on the ancient scroll, in a way, symbolizing the end of his life.

Kagome was crying freely now, tears landing on the scroll, but none leaving a print the way the one tear print of the great InuTaishou's that still remained on the page, beneath the beautiful figures written in his delicate hand.

But as she looked up through her tear hazed eyes, all she could see was Inuyasha staring intently at another scroll, one she was sure she had not read. She, still crying, watched as he delicately slid a claw down the faded manuscript, not tearing it, and she wondered how there was another scroll when she was sure that the one she had just finished was the last document of his.

She looked back at her shaking hands, still holding the great InuTaishou's last words known, and as much as she tried she couldn't stop the tears from flowing down from her pained blue eyes. She didn't even know why she was crying; there was nothing in this story related to her and why was she crying when Inuyasha, the lonely hanyou son of the man who had written these tortured words and the woman who had been beaten to an inch of her life because she had carried a half-demon child, had not shed a single tear.

She shut her eyes tight, struggling to get the tears from stopping; she still couldn't understand why she felt so anguished over those terrible words.

'That's my mother's name.'

Kagome's head shot up, the tears still hadn't stopped, and she stared at Inuyasha who was staring at the scroll he had been holding, shock and a bit of comfort on his face.

'What?' she asked, her throat feeling like it would collapse.

'That's my mother's name. I recognize it.' He said staring up at her, for the first time not bothered by her tears. He thrust the paper in front of her still pouring eyes. And as her eyes started to take in the new writing, she noticed the different, more delicate style of writing and she didn't have to read the words to know it was Izayoi's writing.

Inuyasha pulled it back and stared at it with a strange shimmer of awe in his eyes. And as his eyes gleamed with an unknown emotion, Inuyasha, the lost, orphan hanyou son of the great warlord started to read.

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"_All those times he spent writing in that room of his, I had always assumed that they were some type of war plans that he was drawing up. He was always such a beautiful drawer, you would never assume that he would be able to hold that brush in such a delicate way but now I understand all those times I just dreamed him with a set of brushes whenever I woke up in the morning, and now I see what he has made. And it seems that his beautiful writing has been put to good use. I am glad, considering he never seemed to have the heart to always be killing._

_But now, after reading the words of my love, all I can think is how much I love him. With my mind, with all my body, with all my heart, with all my soul. Without him, I do not see a point in myself living, just like he felt near the end._

_But I do have a reason for living, my son, Inuyasha, the only living piece of InuTaishou I have left to me. But I must wonder, if he not only wrote these stories down for himself, but also for his son, the son he will never get to see grow up._

_I will not deny it, when I found my way out of the burning castle, all I could do was turn fall to the ground and watch as the burning castle burnt out the only person I had ever loved. And I know how unsafe it was to be exposed to openly with Inuyasha still sleeping in my arms, but all I could handle at the moment was the grief that threatened to kill me as I saw my love, no, my mate practically die before my eyes._

_The worst part is that if I shut my eyes, I can, live it all over again; the horrible fear that overwhelmed me when that awful beast approached me and I can still feel the cold metal slicing through my body, even as he screamed at me and my crying son, while I can still feel the terrible feeling of my soul leaving my body. And as strange as it is, because I know I was dead, I could then and can now still hear the anguished cries of my InuTaishou as he crouched over my body, and I can still feel the small warmth on my stomach being taken from me and for the last time I knew Inuyasha's father was cradling the little child to his chest, just like he had the many times before after Inuyasha was born. And the quiet warmth of Tenseiga as InuTaishou, again, brought its healing touch into my body again, bringing me into the soothing arms of my love._

_And I can still hear him crying, and I can still feel the blood on his arms and the terrible tears sliding off his face, and even then I could tell that he knew it was the end for him._

_And I can still feel the last moment we spent together. And it still felt like the first time, like the whole world had stopped and all that could be found was the two of us. And I did not ever want to let go of him, not then, not ever because I did know that that was the last time I would ever see him, feel him, touch him. But it was not going to be the last time I would love him._

_I asked him why he didn't just take Inuyasha and leave because I would've died to save both of them. And I believe he felt the same because he said:_

'_Do you have something which you protect? I have you and him. And I will protect you.'_

_And then he ordered me to flee and I know I will always remember the last words he ever spoke to me._

'_I love you, Izayoi. Do not ever let our son think he was not loved because where ever I go from here, I will be with you both always.'_

_Sesshoumaru found the both of us there outside the burnt down remains of the castle in the morning. And he took us back to InuTaishou's his castle now, because InuTaishou is gone, he is now the Lord of the Western Lands._

_I know he will not tolerate our staying here anymore, he barely endured my presence here when InuTaishou was still alive but now that he is gone, nothing will prevent the other demons on his lands to come after us, and I am sure Sesshoumaru will not help us. _

_So I will take Inuyasha and these scrolls and find Fujishima, because I know he will take us in for, at the very least, a little while. Also I hope he can keep these scrolls until Inuyasha is old enough to read them. Because Inuyasha needs to know this story, to know how much his father loves him and how much he always will._

_I'm sorry that Inuyasha will be treated like an outcast by humans and demons alike; it is not fair that I have brought that upon him, but I can only hope that what he is will not make him any less weaker than his father was. But I know, because he has his father's great blood flowing through his veins, he will be as strong as my InuTaishou. And when he grows up, I pray that he will be able to act in the way his father always did; with honor, nobility and love._

_I remember someone telling me 'There are only two beings of happiness in life, one is to love and the other is to be loved.' Only now can I understand the significance of those beautiful words, because I have understood both of them to the highest degree._

_I am so sorry though._

_Love is to be eternal, and my love for InuTaishou, my lover, my mate, will never end."_

_0_

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Kagome wouldn't lie, she was in shock that Inuyasha was reading his mother's writing, and for an instant she wondered if he could read all along, but as she watched Inuyasha's own expression as he read the words on the page, she knew there was no way he had been able to read before that moment.

But before she could comment on the new development, she felt the uncomfortable sucking of a flea demon of her neck. Kagome slapped Myouga off, and he proceeded to float towards her outstretched hand.

'Lady Kagome,' Myouga said as he inflated again, 'please come and see this. It is amazing.' And he bounced around another massive pile of scrolls and started hopping furiously on a single scroll lying alone on the floor. Kagome looked at Inuyasha who seemed to still be in the aftershock of his new skill, before getting up to follow the retainer who was still jumping frantically on the scroll.

Inuyasha sat slumped on the floor as he still tried to take in the thing he'd just done; by some strange source of magic, he'd read something that usually took someone years to learn. How it'd happened, he didn't know, and he didn't think he wanted to know. It was so strange and difficult to comprehend but if he looked at any of the scrolls on the table, he could see the figures make sense into words that he could easily read. And, although strange, it didn't seem like a coincidence that the first time he would ever read something, it was written by his mother.

'Oh wow!' he heard Kagome gasp. He sighed and got up and stalked over to where she was kneeling with his back to her, something still clutched in her hands.

'What is it, wench…' Inuyasha started but his voice turned into a gruff cough of surprise and his golden eyes widened as Kagome stared up at him with awed eyes and she clenched the scroll in her hands with a surprising strength.

'Okaa…' Inuyasha whimpered like a lost child as he fell to his knees and stared at the images 'Otou….'

Only now could Kagome see a lot of Izayoi in Inuyasha, just like InuTaishou had said so many times, and she could see the similarities between Inuyasha and his father. The same golden eyes, exact same shade of hair, and when he turned human, the same beautiful violet eyes as his mother, and she could see how they all molded into one being, making Inuyasha. And as she shifted her eyes from the picture of Inuyasha's parents to the image of the three combined, all she could do was stare in awe at the skill of the compassionate painting.

The depictions were so delicate, every detail stuck out and it looked as if it was a picture taken with camera instead of a painting drawn with brushes. Izayoi sitting by a bridge, her hands placed over the clear bulge on her tummy. She was smiling and staring off into the stream, with a fish that Kagome had never seen before swimming motionlessly by. And a cherry blossom set up the perfect background, with wisps of the blossoms fluttering onto her dark hair. And if you looked through the background of the branches moving in the wind, you could see another figure, InuTaishou. He, with his long silver hair and the golden eyes Kagome had come so accustomed to in his son, was smiling such an easy, loving smile, she suspected that he smiled more often then he let on in his journal entries.

And if she stared at the image long enough, the figure would start to move into the form of Inuyasha. Kagome smiled as she saw the two swords strapped at his waist, knowing both of his sons had received one, a passing of his legacy in such a perfect way.

Inuyasha blinked, a single tear falling from his eyes as he got up and left, leaving Kagome still clutching the lifelike painting of his parents, the parents he barely knew up until days ago.

Kagome let him go, slumping her head so it lay on her chest and she let out a shaky breath. So much grief and happiness in their lives, but she couldn't decide with herself whether it was a sad ending or a happy ending, more of both. Kagome prayed that the two met up in the afterlife, but she didn't have to pray hard because she didn't think such a pure love would go unlooked by the Gods; but so horribly sad because Inuyasha had been left alone, with no one to care for a vulnerable, abandoned little child.

It made Kagome wonder, was fate fair to this torn family? InuTaishou with such a harsh life, Izayoi with being discriminated for so long because she fell in love with someone not of her race, Sesshoumaru who because he was thought to be unloved turned into a cold, prejudiced monster, and Inuyasha, the lost one.

Kagome started to roll up the scroll again, resigned to go and find Inuyasha and get ready to leave, because she knew he wouldn't stay in the castle long after they finished reading the stories. Now if she could persuade him to take at least some of the scrolls, but she knew he traveled light so they could travel fast. She shut her eyes tight, how could she persuade….but her train of thought stopped.

'Kami…' She thought as the tear Inuyasha had cried spread across the back of the paper. She could barely tear her eyes away and watched in shock as the wet spot slowly arched outwards and, as if by magic, moved across the whole page, making the archaic images appear, words starting to unfurl on the backside of the beautiful picture.

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Here was where he always felt at home, in such solid perch above everything. In the branches of the Goshinboku tree that had seen him through so much; when he'd first met Kikyo, when he parted with her, and when he first met Kagome. This tree held so much of his past in its strong branches. And whenever he went to Kagome's era, he would always look at it in wonder, and marvel at the age and formidability of such an astounding piece of creation. And his history was there, in that little arrow mark that would last forever.

Inuyasha sighed and stretched his arms above his head. They'd left Fujishimas' castle almost five days ago, a day after finishing the last of the scrolls, bidding a quick farewell to the Lord of the manor. He'd seemed disappointed that they were leaving, but Inuyasha had the impression that he was just disgruntled about Inuyasha not allowing him to purchase Kagome.

Kagome and Myouga had been bothering him to try and at least take a few of the scrolls with him, but he'd refused like the stubborn person he was. Deep down, Inuyasha did want to take at least a few of the scrolls, but he didn't want to be bothered with carrying a dozen scrolls with him across the Southern Lands and the area of Musashi.

But that didn't mean Kagome didn't sneak a few, Inuyasha could smell the scrolls as they were leaving, but he let it go, not wanting to let her go all soft again. She'd been treating him like a little baby who didn't get what it wants, with a gentle voice and tentative looks. It bothered him to say the least.

Kagome wouldn't dare try and bother him now though because he'd been acting with more and more aggression, and had almost set Kagome off back through the well. He hadn't slept in days. But despite everything he tried to do, she resolutely stayed, which didn't bother Inuyasha that much because just as he was stubborn, so was she.

He looked up into the cloudless night sky. Now his past wasn't that much of a mystery, but it was humbling to think how brave his father was and to know that he gave his life so that he would live. And it was humbling to know that his father went to such ends to be with his mother. And it was humbling to think that his father gave him the sword that he carried for the better part of his life. And it was humbling…..to be his son.

'Inuyasha,' he heard a soft voice say below him.

'What is it, wench?' he said, his eyes shut and his head lent back against the hard trunk of the massive tree.

'Come down.'

'I'm not getting down from here.'

'I'll say it Inuyasha, now get down here before I get really angry.'

Inuyasha let out a sigh, he didn't want to have to leave the perch he was in, but when Kagome was angry, she got angry. So he pulled himself into a crouch and landed in front of her, grabbed her around the waist and flew back up to the perch that he'd been on before. He grinned as Kagome's hands flew around his neck, grappling to find something to hold onto at his sudden movements.

'You could've warned me.' she said indignantly when they got settled on the branch, with her back up to Inuyasha's chest.

'It was funnier that way.' Inuyasha said his eyes shut 'Now, what do you want?'

Kagome blushed and grasped for her bag that had been limply hanging in her hand and pulled out a scroll.

'Kagome, I told you not to bring it.' Inuyasha said, glaring at her, but inside wondering which one she brought.

Kagome unfolded the scroll and it opened up to the picture of his parents, she looked up at him for some sign of approval.

'Why'd you bring that one? It's not important.' Inuyasha said heatedly. Kagome looked disappointed at his reaction but continued.

'Inuyasha, when I was folding up the scroll, the tear that you cried….'

'I didn't cry!'

'Shut up, Inuyasha. Anyways, the tear you cried landed on the paper, and just after you left something amazing happened.'

'What was that? Did Myouga start sucking you again?'

'Shut up! I am this close to saying it.'

'Okay, okay. Something amazing happened and?'

'Well, the tear started to almost spread. It curled around the page and then this appeared.' And she showed Inuyasha the back of the page with the new figures. Inuyasha stared in wonder as a new bunch of shapes appeared on the page.

He grabbed the page and looked at the page in wonder. A complete new set of kanji figures had emerged off of the once empty piece of paper, and his mind went practically blank when he saw his name at the top.

'Now I haven't read it,' he heard Kagome say from far away but he didn't hear anything after that as he started to read.

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"_To my dear son, Inuyasha,_

_I am watching you and your mother right at this very moment. Both of you are sleeping and you were just born three days ago. I do not know the reason why I am writing you this letter, but I only hope you will be able to read this one day."_

_0_

_0_

_0_

And as Inuyasha started reading, he could hear the same familiar voice of his father's that he heard so often as a small pup reading the exact same words.

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"_I have to apologize for the horrible grievances I have brought upon you and your mother, being a hanyou. You will be treated horribly, and you won't have anywhere to go. Neither human, no demon, I have left you with no where. I love your mother, and I am so happy to finally have a son from someone I love so much, but I have practically cursed you for a life of loneliness and shame, much like my life in a way. And for everything you will have to go through when you get older, I will always be eternally sorry. I can only hope that you will always have me to be there for you._

_Inuyasha, you are the son I've always wanted, one of whom I created through love, not just for territorial purposes. But I still love your brother, because he is mine just as much as he is his mothers. I hope you two will always be there for each other, and I hope that when he inherits the Western Lands that he will always welcome you into our household._

_I want you to inherit my Tetsusaiga after my death and your brother to inherit my Tenseiga. Because of my blood in your veins, you will have to deal with your blood taking over, and my Tetsusaiga will be a way of keeping it under control. Consider it my gift to you._

_And it seems more fitting that I give a sword that kills to someone who has only inspired me to give life._

_It amuses me to think that you might be reading this after my death, such an odd thing to think of, but hopefully beneficial in your understanding of my past and your mothers. One day, with any luck you will find my scrolls and be able to know my past and how much happiness has come from it._

_I hope you like the picture on the other side, it is a fond memory that I like to call upon many a time. And I am proud to say that I drew it. May it always be a sign of the creativity in the line of the Dogs._

_I don't know why I felt like writing down my story all my life in a way it feels like a legacy of mine will be with you forever. As a wise miko once told me, although lives fade, stories will last forever and this is my story to you._

_They say love is a weakness, but it's the thing that has made me the strongest._

_Inuyasha, I love your mother more than anything in the world, I hope you will always know that and you are a reminder of that love. And now I have to be thankful, because now I have everything I've ever needed._

_I have two wonderful sons, a beautiful mate, and a future ahead of me._

_Now I can finally say that I am happy." _

_0_

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He blinked once, then again.

Then another time just for good measure.

So that was it; that was what he wanted. Just the closure of that last piece of writing gave him the peace of mind that had been evading him for days.

His father writing to him, practically talking to him and him alone; it was making InuTaishou into his father, not just the person who wrote down his diary entries and maybe a few feelings just for good measure. No, this was his father, who had loved and cared for him and his mother with all his heart.

Kagome was still staring up at him, having heard him mumble the story out, watching his expression ever so lightly. Inuyasha looked at her, then back at the scroll.

'So that's it?' he asked, reiterating his thought earlier.

Kagome nodded solemnly, still waiting for Inuyasha to let something out.

'He's really my Otou isn't he.'

Kagome's eyes widened. He said it so quiet and gently, but there was so much emotion pent up in those words that she found she couldn't really make a reply to it. She stared at his now hooded eyes and she could see that he was starting to fall asleep.

She snuggled into his chest to get more comfortable. 'Hey,' she said 'you know, in a way, he was right.' He looked at her.

'Yeah, he's dead, but his story will last for a long time right. Through you and your brother as well.'

Inuyasha knew she was right, he'd just never really seen it like that. InuTaishou, although dead, would always be in his sons and live on for a long time. He looked at Kagome who was starting to fall asleep as well.

'I guess, you're right, Kagome. Live forever…' but Inuyasha had fallen asleep as well, finally put at peace about his family and the past he never knew.

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"_15th day of Uzuki, 1856 (April, 1856) _

_This is the first, and its not going to be the last. I still don't understand why everyone was so upset when I started writing, Kagome even started crying. Then I called her a dumb wench. Then she sat me._

_This is harder than I would think it might be, Otou-san made it look so easy._

_A couple of days ago, me writing this would've been unpractical, once because I couldn't read, never mind write, and two I didn't have a reason to. I mean after I got the Jewel and made a wish; that would be it, my story over. But now I want to, well, continue it; for my Otou-san's sake anyway._

_And it's getting more and more important that I do this, because without his memory living on, it'll be just like I am really alone, without any background or history, with no past. I don't think I could handle going back to being like that, after living for so long with out one._

_I like knowing about my past, my family, it's such a rewarding feeling, knowing someone who I came from did so much for my mother and I. And sure, it wasn't always easy, but at least my life took a turn, now I can say I have people who care about me, and though they can piss me off a lot, at least I can count on them, something I haven't been able to do much. _

_I have Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara, Kaede to rely on and of course Kagome. It feels so much better to be able to know that these people will always be there to protect me, as I will hopefully always be there to protect them._

_That was really sappy, Kagome's word not mine._

_But that doesn't mean I don't mean it, they are my friends who looked past the silver hair, amber eyes, clawed hands and dog ears that most people turned and ran at. _

_So I really do have to thank Otou-san, because in some distant way I do have to thank him for giving me something different from everyone else. Me._

_You know this is getting easier and easier, words are just coming really easy now. _

_Of course, this whole writing thing won't always be up to date, I mean, I'm going on a shard tomorrow and I can't lug around a bunch of scrolls everywhere. It would be rather pointless seeing as we can get attacked whenever wherever. So these will stay here, hidden in the trunk of the Goshinboku, and I hope no one finds them._

_But I have to say that I wouldn't mind if Kagome read this, I mean she did read Otou-san's scrolls. And it would kind of be a passing of a legacy; Okaa-san reading Otou-san's scrolls, Kagome reading mine, ironic in such a right way._

_I wonder what it must have been to love someone like that, to be able to die for someone. Like the way my Otou-san did. It amazes me that someone would be able to do that for someone else, I can't even imagine it, even though I was supposed to be there. But all I can say is: I can sort of understand his thinking then._

"_Do you have something which you protect?"_

_Thank you Otou-san. This is for you._

_Toga InuTaishou,_

_Great Dog Leader of the West_

_Who fell in love with a human_

_And went against hundreds of years of segregation and prejudice all for love._

_Thank you._


End file.
